


BFF Battle

by Theonewhosawitall



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Arguments, Baking, Best Friends, F/M, Fighting, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Jealousy, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Voodoo, just girly things, manicures, or can you?, you can only have ONE best friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:24:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 33,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: As a couple Alya and Nino go off on holiday together, leaving Marinette, Adrien and Paris in the capable hands of Ladybug and Chat Noir. Only the day they go Ladybug almost gets her miraculous taken from her, and Chat panics. Shaken, with no one else to talk to, Adrien goes to the one person he knows will listen.Marinette.Their friendship develops while their friends are away, but when Alya comes home, she brings a green eyed monster with her.





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette sighed heavily as she sliced into the depths of the cake she had spent the day baking with Alya yesterday. It was a voodoo cake that Alya had found a recipe for online. Supposedly if you use ingredients that spell out your crushes name and then eat it, your crush will be drawn to you. It didn't seem to be working, but they'd been having fun planning what ingredients to use before they even made it.

...

"Anchovies!" Alya declared.

"Alya no!" Marinette cried in a horrified laugh.

"Why not?!" Alya grinned.

"You can't put _anchovies_ in a cake!" Marinette argued.

"You can if you’re not a coward!" Alya grinned wider.

Marinette threw herself forward to cling to Alya’s leg, horrified. " _No_!"

"Fine! Maybe we'll use apricot jam in between the layers," Alya suggested instead, less enthusiastically.

Alya laid down across the sofa, throwing and catching a cushion out above her head.

"Or almonds?" Marinette said, sitting up.

"If that’s what you're feeling girl, remember you’re the one that’s gotta eat this," Alya reminded her.

Marinette hummed thoughtfully and wrote down each ingredient for each letter. "D?"

"Date, or is that too obvious?" Alya sniggered.

"Way too obvious!" Marinette said.

"Dried apricots," Alya offered.

"That'd make almonds A," Marinette pointed out.

"You could make a fruit and nut cake," Alya said.

"That'd make R rum as a preservative," Marinette smirked.

"See? It’s all working out already!" Alya grinned. "What about I?"

"Icing sugar," Marinette answered instantly.

"E?" Alya asked.

"Eggs," Marinette said.

"Finally, N?" Alya asked.

Marinette's pen dipped. She sat up and frowned thoughtfully. "Nougat?"

"Oooh, creative!" Alya smirked.

"Or just nuts in general," Marinette said uncertainly.

Alya wrinkled her nose. "That's less creative. Come on Mari, we've been specific with everything else, there’s gotta be something specific you can find for N?"

"Apart from nougat?" Marinette asked.

"I'm not taking it off the table, but you do have to eat it, and you don’t like nougat," Alya shrugged.

Marinette hummed again, thinking hard. All she could come up with was, "Nutella?"

Alya caught the cushion and rolled her head to look at her. "You’re stuck on nuts, aren’t you?"

"Kind of... I don’t know what else you could put in a fruit cake," Marinette shrugged.

"You’re a baker!" Alya laughed.

"I've got bakers block," Marinette whined, grinning.

"Marinette can you mind the shop for a minute, I forgot to buy nutmeg!" Thomas called up the stairs.

Alya and Marinette snapped upright and beamed at each other as if this was fate. Without thinking both of them cheered at the same time, "NUTMEG!"

...

Marinette chuckled at the memory of the mess they made while baking this cake together. It seemed like a long time ago now. She still had so much cake left, and there was no sign of Adrien. Marinette bit into the moist slice sadly. She found herself missing Alya desperately today.  
Ok so she'd only seen her yesterday, but still! She had gone off camping with Nino's family this morning before the akuma attack, and Ladybug had come so close to losing her miraculous that Tikki was still sleeping off the adrenaline now. Marinette was shaken and nervous and she wanted, no, she _needed_ to talk to someone who believed in Ladybug despite the near reveal.  
Unfortunately, with Alya gone that only left one person she could think of.  
Chloe.  
As bad as she felt, Marinette wasn’t that desperate.

A quiet clatter from the balcony snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up towards the skylight. A dark shape was skulking around out there, right next to her bedroom window. Cautiously she crept closer to try and see it clearer.

"W-who’s there?" She called nervously.

The shape hesitated. It straightened up and ran its gloved hand through his hair. Her chest eased as he moved. She recognised the curve of that tail anywhere.

"Chat Noir?" She called.

Hearing her say her name trapped Adrien. He took a step back nervously. She had seen him now so he couldn't run, but the reason he was here...  
He was still a little shaken by today's events, and usually he’d talk to Nino about it, but Nino was out of the city camping with his girlfriend and no mobile signal. Also, Nino thought Adrien was anxious about a whole city relying so heavily on two heroes, which he was, but always ended by saying “don’t worry bro, Ladybug’ll take care of everything”, which wouldn’t be so reassuring today. The fear of losing ladybug…  
It was selfish to dump this on a civilian, but Nino wasn’t around and Marinette was the only person who would listen and care. Or at least pretend to. Especially since she was the only person in Paris who knew about him loving Ladybug for certain, despite what the gossip magazines declared.  
For whatever reason she was always shy around Adrien – he’d never asked why in case she was sensitive about it – but it made her a good listener. He needed a good listener right now.  
That’s why he was here.  
Marinette was the only person currently in Paris he could talk to.  
But now she'd seen him as _Chat_ , he couldn’t suddenly become Adrien.

Marinette appeared out of her skylight with her navy-blue hair loose around her shoulders, framing her pretty blue eyes. Adrien had never noticed how deep the blue was until the moon shone in them like that. She tilted her head at him like a curious cat. He gulped nervously. He was supposed to be the charming hero here but he couldn’t find the words.

“hey Chat,” she said, hesitantly.

"Um, heya princess," he forced a smile.

Marinette frowned and tilted her head at him. He didn’t seem himself. "Chat are you ok?"

"I um..."

He trailed off and started wringing his wrists anxiously. He was sure he shouldn't be there. It wasn’t her problem. Even if she would listen, she wouldn't understand...

Marinette frowned. "Chat?"

Chat bowed his head and stepped back again, almost crashing into the bars behind him. "Sorry, I should go..."

Chat climbed up onto the bars, ready to leap away but Marinette grabbed onto his tail and pulled him back. He glanced back at her, fighting the ball in his throat. Marinette eased her grip on his tail and gave him a soft, compassionate smile. she could see the tension tangled in him, and she knew he wasn’t ok. what she didn’t know was why he had come to her as Marinette.  
For a fleeting moment she feared he’d found out who she really was, but it didn’t seem like that. for one thing, Chat was a flirt. If he found out who she was, he’d be flirting with her like Ladybug, without batting an eyelid.  
No he didn’t know who she was.  
He just needed someone to talk to.

"Wanna come in?" She asked, gesturing to the skylight.

Chat turned, still squatting on the bars. He looked past her, to the skylight behind her, and the bed beneath the skylight. His heart beat harder.

"I don't think your father would like to find me in your room," he said.

Marinette had not considered that. She felt her cheeks flush scarlet at the idea. Chat felt his chest ease. That was the shy and nervous Marinette he knew.

"Maybe not," she muttered. "Guess I'll have to stay out here with you instead."

Chat blinked in surprise as she dipped down to grab her blanket from her bed and yanked it out onto the balcony to hide her tiny pyjama shorts. The tiles were cold under her bare feet so she hurried over to him on tiptoes. She had to pick her way carefully because Chat had broken a pot, but she slipped.  
Marinette was used to stumbling and falling. The only two people who still bothered to try and catch her were Adrien and Alya. Alya was wavering. Chat gasped when he realised she was about to fall so immediately put his feet down and darted forward to catch her.  
Marinette was rather surprised to find herself cradled against her partners chest with his arms wrapped around her. His arms were rather muscular, and his chest was padded. Maybe it was the suit, maybe it was muscles. She found herself hoping it was muscles.

"Are you ok?" He asked urgently.

"Me? Y-yeah I'm fine!" She stammered.

Chat sniffed the air suddenly. He frowned. He sniffed again. Any thoughts of his muscular body left her mind when he began snuffling around her like a cat.

"What are you doing?" She asked suspiciously.

He pulled back and gave her a suspicious look. "Princess, why do you smell like alcohol?"

"Oh, that’s the rum," Marinette shrugged.

"Excuse me?" Chat asked sternly.

"The rum in the cake!" Marinette insisted.

She didn't like the idea of Chat thinking badly of her, even if he didn’t know who she really was. Fortunately, Adrien had forgotten to eat earlier and his stomach gurgled at the mention of food.

"Cake?" He repeated, casually.

Marinette saw straight through that and smiled. "Yeah, it's voo- um, fruit cake. Want a slice?"

"Sure," Chat beamed.

Marinette vanished into her bedroom again and appeared again with a plate full of cake. Chat licked his lips eagerly. He used his claws to cut himself a slice which Marinette had to admit she found impressive.

"Mmm, what's that underlining taste? Its spicy... what is that?" He asked, spewing crumbs as he did.

"Nutmeg," Marinette said.

"Mmm," Chat swallowed hard, "Delicious."

Chat bit into his slice again like a starving stray. He ate so ravenously that Marinette found herself wondering if anyone ever fed the boy.

"Don't eat too fast or you'll get-"

"Hic!"

"Hiccups," Marinette finished lamely.

Chat's wide-eyed gaping surprise at his sudden case of hiccups made Marinette smirk. He was a cute kitty really. He hiccupped again, and then shrugged and carried on eating. Marinette shook her head and chuckled.

"Why are you here Chat?" She asked.

Chat stopped eating for a moment. He stared at the cake in his hand and swallowed hard before muttering, "It's stupid."

There was a long pause, in which Marinette leaned closer, silently urging him to continue.

"I just..." he sighed and looked out at the city that stood before them. Their city. The city both of them protected. Most of the citizens were asleep by now, it was only fitting for its guardians to still be up, and still be watching. Chat took a deep breath of the cool night air.

"my best friend has gone out of town and I have no body to talk to, but there was a time... I don’t think you remember-"

"I remember."

It was very difficult to forget. The huge moon looming over them, and the sky crammed with stars, the lingering scent of ice cream being melted away by the vanilla scented candles surrounding them... The rose had sat on her desk until it resembled the one in Beauty and The Beast. Marinette had dreams about that kiss for a week. She couldn't look at him in the same way anymore, although that had gotten easier over time.

"I'm scared," Chat said softly.

Marinette's eyes widened and she felt her heart stop for a moment. Today’s events had scared the hell out of her, but she'd never once imagined that Chat Noir with all his sly smiling and cocky swagger could be scared too.

" _you’re_ scared?" She repeated.

"Heroes can get scared too Marinette. We're only human," Chat said pointedly.

Marinette’s ears turned pink, "Yes, I know... although... you’re more like a cat human..."

Chat gave her a bizarre yet amused look for her attempt at a pun. "You can do better than that purrincess."

"Sorry," she said, but it felt good to hear the amusement in his voice again. "What are you scared of?"

Chat hiccuped glumly. "I know no one thinks of me as a hero, just a sidekick-"

"That’s not true-" Marinette began to get defensive.

Chat laid a hand on her wrist and said, "Please princess - hic - just let me finish."

She bit her lip, trying not to smile at his hiccups, and nodded. "Sorry."

Chat let go of her hand and leaned against the railings so he wouldn’t have to look her in the eye. It was always easier to tell the moon his feelings. She wasn’t particularly helpful, but she was always there to listen and remind him that there’s always beauty in darkness.

"I know what they think. I'm only here to defend my lady. I honestly don’t mind - hic. As long as she’s safe, I've done by job. I protect the city by protecting her... She almost lost her miraculous today... if she lost her miraculous, I'd never be able to cure an akuma, and Paris would fall into Hawkmoths hands... what - hic - what if I fail her?"

Chat's voice was so low, so afraid, Marinette barely caught what he had said. She felt his words weigh heavily on her chest. Even though she had felt the exact same things, she felt the urge to comfort him instead of admitting it. Even his hiccuping didn't make his expression any less heart renching.

"Chat-"

"What if I'm not there when she needs me, when she really needs me, and she gets revealed? If Hawkmoth knows who she is she'll never be safe, civilian or not. I thought she wanted to keep our identities secret because she didn't trust me to keep hers, but I get it know. If I knew who she was there’s one more risk to her... I couldn’t bare it if I was the reason Hawkmoth found her."

there was another long pause as he hung his head low. you wouldn't think you could make a hiccup sound sad, but Chat could. His hiccups caught in his throat to sound like like soft choking. Marinette edged closer to him to lean against the railings beside him. 

"Kitty?"

Marinette's soft voice cut through the air like a knife, and he twisted his head enough to show he was listening. She laid her hand gently on his arm.

"Kitty, Ladybug trusts you. We see it every day. She knows you'll catch her when she falls, just like she'll be there to catch you. But she knows you’re human. She knows better than anyone, because she is too. That fear you feel, the fear you'll fail the city, she feels it too. Do you think she'll fail?" She asked.

"No, she wouldn't. If she ever surrenders to hawkmoth here'd be a valid reason," Chat said firmly.

Marinette squeezed his arm pointedly. "Exactly. So don’t you think I - Ladybug knows if you were to fail, there’d be a reason for it? You wouldn't let her down. She knows that. Ladybug believes in you Kitty. I believe in you,"

Chats head hung low. "But I'm not perfect Marinette... it could happen..."

"Just as easily as Ladybug letting you down. You're human Chat. Ladybug is human. If you fail, you get back up, and you try again. With or without the mask you’re still a hero," Marinette promised.

He tilted his head towards her. "You think so?"

"I do," she nodded firmly, with a smile. Then with a shrug she added, "And even if you fail, there's always Rena Rouge and Queen Bee to save you."

"Ah yeah I forgot about the super girls!" Chat laughed softly.

Once his smile had found its way back to him Marinette felt her chest ease. He was a handsome cat but he looked better with a smile. Her hand didn't move though.

"Feeling better?" She asked.

"Yeah," Chat nodded honestly. Then, to lighten the situation, he added, "I think I was mostly hungry. Maybe if I sleep I'll feel better."

"Good plan. Every cat needs a good nap," Marinette smirked.

Chat chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Do you mind if I take some more cake to go?"

"Sure, it's not working anyway," Marinette shrugged without thinking.

Chat frowned. "What'd you mean?"

"Um, nothing, it’s stupid," Marinette shrugged.

"Purrrrrincess," Chat purred pointedly.

Marinette shifted sheepishly staring at her feet. "Well um... My best friend found a kind off... well it’s supposed to be a magic recipe. If you use ingredients that spell out the letters of your crushes name, it’s supposed to draw your crush to you."

Chat instantly began to try and think of ingredients that spelt out ladybug. He got to lemon and then got stuck.

"Interesting. Does it work?" Chat asked in his distraction.

Marinette gave him a funny look and repeated, "Not so far."

"Well who is it? Maybe I can put in a good word. I’m way more magical than a cake!" Chat grinned.

"Mm, I’d rather have the cake," Marinette smirked.

"I'm serious, who is he?" Chat pestered.

Marinette pulled her blanket closer around her. "If I tell you are you going to turn up on his doorstep and tell him how amazing I am?"

"Of course!" Chat nodded.

"Then no way!" Marinette stated.

"C'mon princess, pawlease?" Chat pouted.

"No chance! I can embarrass myself in front of him, I don't need your help," Marinette said.

"At least tell me the ingredients of the cake so I can try and work it out."

"No."

"Well there's rum and nutmeg and almonds... is his name Ran?" Chat grinned eagerly.

"There’s more than those ingredients," Marinette said.

"Like?" Chat asked.

"Nice try," she laughed.

"Right-" Chat snatched up the whole plate of cake and held it up to his eyes to inspect it. "I'm going to analyse this and find out every single ingredient, and I'm going to work out his name!"

"Whatever keeps you away from the yarn balls," she shrugged.

"Mark my words Marinette, I will discover the name of your crush," chat warned.

"Good luck with that. And good night Chat Noir!" She smiled.

Chat stood up on the railings with his baton in one hand, the cake in the other, and a mood far happier than the one he'd arrived in.

"Sweet dreams princess, I hope I'm in them."

With a wink he went flying across the rooftops, desperately trying not to drop the cake as he went. Marinette laughed brightly into the wind and shook her head. The cake might not have managed to bring Adrien to her, but it had been fun to make with one friend and brought joy to another when he needed it, so it was a success in her eyes.

Now that Marinette didn't feel so blue anymore, she was finally ready to drift off to sleep. 


	2. Chapter 2

Marinette woke up to daylight lighting up the room around her. she hadn’t remembered to shut the curtain after Chat left, so the sunlight was pouring in now. Marinette yawned. She reached up and opened the skylight. The sun was already shining down on the city when Marinette pushed open her skylight to find Chat Noir lounging on her recliner. He beamed brightly at her when she appeared.

“Good mewning purrincess!” he purred.

Marinette pulled herself up onto the balcony, bleary eyed and tired, but she smiled when she saw him lounging there. “You’re like a stray. Feed you once and you keep coming back."

“and I’m cute enough to adopt because of it?” he smirked.

“sorry kitty, no pets allowed in the bakery,” Marinette said.

“Shame. I’d be good pest control,” Chat said.

“you’re the pest we’re trying to control!” Marinette laughed.

Chat moved his head back to laugh up into the air and Marinette felt her chest warm. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, ignored the chill in the early morning air, and wandered over to where he was sitting.

“it’s good to see you smile again. are you feeling any better?” she asked.

“I am. I’ve got something to concentrate on now thanks to you,” he explained, sitting up.

Marinette gave him a confused look. “you do?”

“yes! Now, I’ve only been at it a few hours, but here we go," Chat reached into his pocket to put out a crumbled-up piece of paper. He unfolded it and cleared his throat. "Nutmeg, rum, cinnamon-”

Once she caught on to the fact that he was listing his guesses as to what ingredients were in the cake, Marinette shook her head.

“There’s no cinnamon in that cake,” Marinette said.

“Brandy- wait-” his eyes flicked up onto her, tensely. “what?”

“There’s no cinnamon in this cake."

Chat stared at her, jaw slacked, looking utterly affronted. “But I taste it!”

“You taste nutmeg. There isn’t cinnamon,” she explained.

Chat pouted at her. “Are you sure?”

“I baked it!” she reminded him.

His ears drooped in disappointment. “Does that mean he hasn’t got a C in his name?”

He seemed so disappointed that Marinette’s heart went out to him. it hadn’t been very long since he was here last night, so he must have been working hard on this since then, only for it all to go to waste now because there wasn’t any cinnamon. Marinette decided to try and distract him.

“Has his name even got an R in it?!” he asked, clearly going insane.

“What makes you so sure it’s a he?” Marinette asked.

Again, Chat stared at her, his jaw wide, but this time his eyes were wider. He blinked a few times just to try and take in what she was suggesting. After a moment that felt like forever he managed to choke out, “Princess?”

Marinette burst into laughter at the shock that made his face a picture. “I'm kidding! He’s a he. He’s the most handsome he I’ve ever seen.”

Chats ears drooped when he realised he'd been duped, and got his own back by saying, “Ah, of course, it’s me!"

She snorted. “You wish!”

Chat clutched his chest with a dramatic gasp and declared, “heartbreaker!”

Marinette laughed so hard she had to sit down beside him on the recliner. Chat Noir beamed. He never got to see this side of her as Adrien. She seemed calmer here. More confident and in control. Much more like Alya. It was easier to see why Alya was so attached to her when she was brought out of her shell. Bright and confident and playful like this, Marinette reminded him of Ladybug.  
But Ladybug would never stutter and trip over herself as much as Marinette did in front of Adrien. Chat kind of wished that she would. Maybe that would humanise her. Ladybug had a temper sometimes, but other than that, she was perfect in his eyes.

Marinette nudged him to draw his attention back. "So what's your plan for today?"

Chat sighed and laid back down. "I have lessons for most of the day."

"But it's summer?" Marinette frowned.

Chat shrugged. He couldn’t tell Marinette too much about what he was learning or she'd figure out who he was. Marinette was a bright penny, and she knew Adrien better than almost anyone. He had to tread carefully.  
At the same time though, Adrien couldn’t complain about his family to Marinette. She loved his father’s designs so much she wallpapered her room with photos of him wearing them. Maybe if she knew what it was like for Chat, she could emphasise more with Adrien...

"My father likes to keep me busy. He says it's better to be smart and handsome than just handsome because looks fade," Chat sighed.

Marinette gave him a sympathetic look but it didn’t find its way into her voice. "Well I think you've got a long time before your looks fade. You're very pretty kitty."

Chats eyes widened in surprise. Of course, he knew he was handsome- he was a model after all - but it was very rare anyone ever actually commented on it aloud. Especially not someone he cared about. He felt his cheeks flush.

"Thanks," he muttered. "I think you’re very pretty too..."

Marinette's stomach twisted a little. She knew Chat liked Ladybug and he thought she was beautiful so logically he thought she was too, but it had been so long since anyone but Alya or Chloe said anything about her looks she couldn’t help blushing. There was an awkward pause as both of them felt their cheeks turn pink and they refused to make eye contact. Then Chat added:

"Ran is a very lucky man."

Marinette burst into laughter because if she didn’t she would have choked. "His name isn’t Ran!"

Chat laughed just as loudly as she did, mostly because he needed a break from keeping it all in just as much as she did. When they trailed off, he watched as Marinette's smile faded slightly.

"Hey, what’s up?" He asked, concerned.

"Oh, it’s nothing big, I'm just thinking," Marinette smiled reassuringly.

Chat nudged her encouragingly. "Helps to talk out loud sometimes."

"That helps you sound like an idiot," she scoffed.

"I don't need help with that," chat smirked.

Marinette laughed but she shook her head as she did. "Come on Chat, we both know you’re no idiot."

Chat sat up a little. "We do?"

"Course we do," she said, plainly. "You can come up with clever plays on words in a second flat and work it seamlessly into a conversation with ease. That takes a brain. You're much cleverer than people give you credit for."

Chat wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that. Part of him was flattered that she thought so much of him, but the rest of him was a little uncomfortable with how easily she could see right through him. It was intriguing.

"Then let me help you think. What are we thinking about?" He asked.

"Um... alright... a friend of mine - I won’t tell you his name because I might be wrong and I don’t wanna make a big thing of it, but um... the thing is he has a dad that I imagine is like yours," Marinette began hesitantly.

"He does?" Chat asked innocently.

"Yeah... I mean obviously I don't know your dad, but my friend has to go to so many lessons even though it’s the summer holidays, and he is always too busy to hang out because his father won't let him out, but... I dunno, he's a great guy and he tries so hard to please everyone I just wonder... I wonder if he ever gets the chance to just please himself, y’know?" She sighed.

Chat tilted his head. "You think he's unhappy?"

"I don’t know. He seems happy enough at school but sometimes I catch him falling asleep in class and I think it’s because he's so exhausted from trying to keep people happy all the time," Marinette shrugged.

"Is making people happy a problem?" Chat asked

"No, no, never! It's just..." Marinette sighed helplessly. "I don’t know how to explain."

Chat leaned forward to grab her hand urgently. "No please! I wanna know!"

Marinette shifted awkwardly and looked down. "It's just that... he spends so much time keeping everyone happy and everyone’s so demanding! Chloe wants him to be like a little puppy to her, and his dad treats him like a puppet on a string, and he's even got a bodyguard that follows him everywhere! Sometimes I wonder if he actually gets time to do that things /he wants to do. I had to help him sneak through the city just to see a movie once! It just doesn’t seem fair that someone so kind-hearted could be treated so poorly when he just wants to make people happy, y’know?"

Chat felt her words like a bullet to his chest. He'd never stopped to consider whether or not he put making other people happy before making himself happy.

"Yeah... but, y’know, maybe he just needs someone to tell him that?" He suggested.

"Nino tries. He tried to convince his dad to let him have a birthday party, and his dad said no! To a birthday party! That doesn’t seem fair," Marinette insisted.

"No... maybe... maybe _you_ should try," Chat urged.

Marinette gaped at him in horror. "Me?!"

"Yeah! You managed to convince your whole class to vote for you for president and not Chloe, you’re very convincing!" Chat urged.

Marinette frowned, "How'd you know about that?"

"Oh, um, C-Chloe told me?" Chat lied uncertainly.

Marinette didn’t look convinced. "Chloe?"

"Yeah! Well, um, I had to save her and she was complaining about how the akuma was ruining her day when you were already ruining it..." Chat trailed off. He felt bad for throwing his oldest friend under the bus, but it was the most believable lie he could come up with. When Marinette scoffed like that he knew he got away with it.

"Yeah that sounds like Chloe."

Chat cleared his throat uncertainly and pushed on. "Look, maybe if you asked your friend what he wanted to do, you'd give him a chance to do something that made him happy. That way you'd know he was ok, right?"

Marinette stared down at her lap and said in a hard but low tone, "It’s not that simple."

"Why not?" He asked, concerned.

"It just isn't," Marinette stressed, desperately trying not to let her cheeks turn pink.

"Well you'll never know unless you try right?" Chat urged.

"There’s no way! I couldn’t do it! He'd /know something was up just by the sound of my voice!" Marinette insisted.

"Then text him," Chat shrugged.

Marinette stared at him like he'd suggested kidnapping the boy’s mother and holding her to ransom just to get his attention.

"No. Way."

"It’s really not hard, want me to do it?" Chat asked.

"NO!"

It was a small move from Chat reaching towards her phone as he spoke that made Marinette throw her phone across the balcony like a ninja star. Instantly both of the darted after it, trying to catch it before it could go over the edge. That ended up with both of them grappling for the phone above their heads as he leapt from their hands like a wet bar of soap.

When Tikki snatched it of the air and shot into Marinette’s sleeve, leaving it in her palm, Marinette pressed it to her chest to ease her thumping heart.

Her parents would freak if she broke another phone like this.

"Wow, you’re super clumsy," Chat said, trying not to grin.

Marinette’s shoulders sagged. She collapsed back onto the recliner as Chat stood over her, watching.

"I know. I’m such a klutz! That's why I’d never be able to tell Adrien I was worried about, I'd mess it up, I’d accidentally insult him!"

Marinette buried her head in her hands and groaned heavily. Chat bit back a smirk. Now _this_ was the Marinette he knew and loved from school. Chat crouched down beside her and laid a hand on her back.

"How could anyone be insulted by you caring enough about them to be worried?" He asked softly.

Marinette raised her head just enough for her beautiful blue eyes to meet his dazzling greens.

"I don’t wanna upset him. He deserves better than that," she said softly.

Chat smiled warmly. His eyes shone affectionately, but he couldn't let her know so he shrugged it off. "Fine. Let me help you write the text. I'm feline helpful, I'm sure I can stop you offending him."

"You don't even know him," she said.

Chat scoffed and stood up straight to put his hands on his hips. "You know who I do or don’t know! I've saved Adrien loads of times!"

"Adrien who?" Marinette challenged.

"Going by the state of your bedroom walls, my good friend Adrien Agreste!" Chat said pointedly.

Now Marinette felt her ears turn pink. "Your _good_ friend?"

"I know him very well!" Chat bit back a grin.

Marinette rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Sure you do."

"I /do! And I'm sure I can write a text for you to send him and let him know you’re worried," chat folded his arms stubbornly.

It was fairly obvious he wouldn't be leaving until shed let him text Adrien, and she was worried about him, and no one else was going to help her.

Marinette groaned. "Urgh, fine. But only because I'd usually have Alya helping me, but she's busy being on holiday. This is a onetime thing. Promise me!"

Chat grinned and held up three fingers, "Cats honour princess."

Marinette didn’t seem convinced, but it was a step in the right direction. Which instantly became a step backwards once Chat dared to suggest putting three Y's on the end of Hey and started a twenty-minute debate. Both of them crowded the phone, swapping it between them – Marinette had to remind him to mind his claws on the screen every now and then – to try and sculpt the perfect, non-offensive text to send to Adrien.  
Having to watch Marinette panic about crafting the perfect text before she even sent it, and then panic about sending it, open Adrien’s eyes to yet another side of her. an anxious, slightly manic side, that would do anything to be able to keep herself from looking foolish and was constantly one odd look away from total melt down. No wonder Alya was the one who did the most talking out of the two of them.

Then Chat suggested looking through her other text conversations to see if he could find a pattern of her speech to make the text sound more genuine, and more like her talking alone instead of her and Chat talking to Adrien. it was slightly pointless, but it threw her away from any idea that he was actually Adrien. not that she had any ideas like that. In her mind, Adrien was perfect. Not her best friend in a cat suit. Reading these texts though, he could see all the different sides of Marinette.  
the sweet, helpful girl he knew in class texted Rose, Juleka and Nathanael when they were texting about group projects, and the kind but critical Marinette texted Nino about his new demos and how to improve them, an excited but professional Marinette texted with Jagged Stone’s management – and then there was Alya’s Marinette.  
Reading through the conversations between Alya and Marinette was like reading in a different language.

Alya would sent a link, and then Marinette would reply with a chain of emojis. Marinette would send a picture of a cake, Alya would reply with a selfie of her drooling. They’d send screenshots of the news that made either Ladybug or Chat Noir look dopey to each other, and then laugh about it. Alya’s manic theories about Ladybugs identities were excitable, and Marinette’s replies were either sarcastic, cagey, or uncertain.  
Then there were 87 texts in a row from each of them of the same damn emoji in a row. Sent at 2:38 am. On a Tuesday. For no reason. The conversation – if you could call it that – just ended with each of them saying goodnight.  
Marinette snatched the phone back before he could reach any mention of Marinette’s crush, but it was clear to him then that Alya got to see a side of Marinette that no one else did. Not even her parents.

THAT was the side of her that Chat wanted to see. he wanted to know how crazy and weird she could be, and he wanted to see what made her act like that.

He wanted to know what it was like to be her best friend, because Nino was his, and as much as he loved him, Nino was way too chill to send “CODE RED!” in block capitals at three in the morning, and FAR too logical to allow Adrien to rant through how forgetting this one piece of homework was going to wind up with him getting arrested before offering advice on how to avoid that. ~  
Alya wasn’t.  
Marinette wasn’t.  
These girls were crazy, and that was what he wanted to see. He was seeing it enough as Marinette and Chat argued over whether or not to send the text they’d spent the last hour writing, and yet he wanted more.

Meanwhile Tikki sat in the shelter of a plant pot, watching from safety of beneath the bottom leaves. She sank back into her shelter. If these two were going to be spending more time together like this, things were going to get rough.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm gonna kill that cat."

Marinette had been tearing through her clothes for the last three hours, searching for something, anything, that she could wear that didn't make her look frumpy or childish or crazy. Chat Noir had made Marinette text Adrien, and now Adrien had made plans to go out with Marinette for the day. She was freaking out and neither that stupid cat or Alya was there to help her.

"Wear that Marinette, you look beautiful!" Tikki insisted.

Marinette sighed. "Tikki I love you but you said that about all of them."

"Because you look beautiful in everything!" Tikki insisted.

Marinette tried to hide the frustration but it seeped through. "Tikki you're sweet but I need you to tell me what you really honestly think. Today is my one chance to be alone with Adrien! I need to look my best!"

Tikki could feel the tension already rising from her nerves. Marinette needed Alya to balance her when she was like this. Being alone with Adrien was throwing her in at the deep end. If Marinette didn't swim she'd drown.  
Tikki had to salvage as much as she could, and that started now.

"I think you look cute in the black and green," Tikki said.

Marinette hummed dubiously. "Cuter in red and black."

Tikki zipped across the room and grabbed a red bandana covered in black spots that Alya had given Marinette for Christmas. She zipped back over to lay the bandana across Marinette’s neck, avoiding her pigtails.

"I think red and black goes together wonderfully girl, you can make it work with anything!" Tikki declared.

Tikki held up a hand mirror as best as she could to show Marinette how she looked with the bandana. Marinette's hand ran across the pointed end thoughtfully. She lifted each end in her hand and tied the bandana into her hair with a bow.

"You're right Tikki. I just gotta stay calm and remember that I'm Ladybug. If I can save Paris, I can face Adrien," Marinette said, stubbornly.

Tikki dropped the mirror onto the desk and spun in the air like a Katharine-wheel. "Yeah girl, you're ladybug! you’re smart and creative and brave enough to do anything!"

Marinette grinned. Tikki was like her own personal cheerleader. Even if she was a little useless when it came to outfit, she still loved her to bits.

"Alright Tikki, I know the perfect shirt to go with this, but I'll need your help to find it," Marinette said seriously.

"I'm ready girl!" Tikki declared.

If Tikki had sleeves to roll up she would have right then. Facing down the mountain of clothes on the sofa before them, it could take a while to find one specific shirt, but Tikki was ready to do what it took to help Marinette keep her cool.

After all, if this went well, maybe the pining would finally stop.

...

Plagg sat on the back of the sofa, lazily munching on his cheese as he watched Adrien searching for the hairbrush he'd left on the table in front of him. His hair was still damp from the shower and it was dripping off onto his shirt.

"Why are you making such a big deal out of this?" Plagg asked.

"Because she's right Plagg! I never let myself have any fun because I'm trying to be perfect for everyone else. It's time for me to do what I wanna do," Adrien stressed.

Plagg tilted his head. "Don't you have fun as Chat Noir? Aren't I fun?"

"Of course, you are, I love when we sneak off to the movies or whatever, but this is different. I'm taking a stand. I shouldn't have to sneak away and ditch my body guard or be a hero of Paris to have fun. I should just get to have fun. Like a normal kid," Adrien said.

Plagg watched him scurry up the rock-climbing wall mounted to his bedroom wall to check the higher shelves for his brush. "Kid, if you manage to convince your father to let you go out like a normal kid, I'll be amazed."

"Well I promised Marinette I'll go now so I'm going anyway, just as soon as I find that stupid hairbrush!" Adrien huffed in frustration.

Plagg picked up the hair brush and held it up to Adrien. "You mean this hairbrush?"

"Plagg! Has that been there this whole time?!"

"Well you never asked!"

Adrien huffed again as he took the brush and started taming his wild hair. When it was wet like this it naturally fell into a Chat Noir look. He couldn’t risk going out without brushing it smooth.

“What're you gonna tell your father?” Plagg asked through a mouthful of cheese.

“I'm going to march right in and tell him the truth,” Adrien said stubbornly.

Plagg scoffed. “What, dad I snuck out in the middle of the night to go talk to Marinette because I was upset that ladybug almost died because I'm chat noir and I should protect her, and Marinette said I need to go out and have fun so I'm going to? That'll end well.”

“Shut up Plagg,” Adrien huffed. “I'll think of something.”

He smoothed his hair with his hand after the brush ran through it to make sure it stayed down. Adrien stared into his reflection in his floor length mirror and swallowed nervously. It wasn’t like he was asking for much, but he couldn’t be sure what mood his father was in. if he wasn’t careful, he could make it worse. Plagg landed on his shoulder.

“hey kid, you’re chat noir! If you can face down hawkmoth you can face down your father,” Plagg said warmly.

“I have Ladybug with me when I face Hawkmoth,” Adrien said to Plagg’s reflection.

“and you have me to face your father with,” Plagg said. “Come on buddy, what’s the worst that could happen?”

With Plagg on board, Adrien felt confident enough to give it a go. he straightened his back and marched out of his room. Plagg dove for cover in his top pocket as he did. Adrien marched purposefully down the steps towards his father’s office, but as soon as he saw the office door, he slowed. He hesitated at the bottom of the steps, staring at the door.

“Go on Adrien, Marinette is waiting!” Plagg urged.

Adrien gulped, but he set off again. his pace was slightly slower as the nerves began to dig their claws into him. the anger and determination faded the closer he got to the door. Once he was close enough, he took a deep breath and raised a hand to knock…

“Adrien? Where are you going?”

Natalie appeared from nowhere, making an already nervous Adrien jump. He felt his heart thundering as she towered over him. she kept her hands folded behind her back, looking down on him as coldly as she usually did. While she had always made it clear she wasn’t there to nanny Adrien – she was a house manager and personal assistant, not a nanny – the robotic way she dealt with him made him slightly uncomfortable. Even so there were times when she took his side over his fathers, and he had to hope this was one of those times.

“I need to talk to father,” he said.

“He's busy. You can meet with him after piano practice,” Natalie stated.

Adrien frowned. “But-”

“Which you were supposed to start ten minutes ago,” Natalie continued.

“I know, but-”

“Go to your room and practice. I'll inform you when your father is free.”

Adrien was still for a moment, full of arguments as to why he needed to talk to his father now, but there was no point. even if she listened she would just remind him that his father was busy, and she’d fetch him after his piano practice. Instead, Adrien let his shoulders drop and sighed.

“Yes Natalie.”

The slow walk back to his room was the compete opposite of the stubborn march down. He dragged his feet across the floor as he went. Plagg popped up from his pocket when his bedroom door was once again in sight.

""I'm gonna march right in and tell him the truth!"” Plagg repeated, sarcastically. Adrien sighed again instead of replying. Plagg softened. “Face it kid, he was never gonna let you go anyway."

Adrien turned on the tape of piano music again and turned it up so it sounded like he was practicing.

“Looks like we're sneaking out the normal way then. Plagg, claws out!”

...

“Marinette, Adrien’s here!”

There was a high-pitched squeak from the attic room followed by a crash as Marinette ran so fast across her room that she tripped and fell over. Adrien gasped in concern. Her parents seemed less concerned. When Marinette yanked open the door and came hurrying into the room her mother raised her head.

“Are you alright honey?” Sabine asked.

Adrien turned to try and see Marinette, but she was masked by some plant pots sat along the side between the living room and the kitchen.

“Yes, I tripped on my school books – I know, I know, I’ll put them away when I get home!” she insisted.

“Well we don’t want you to trip and injure yourself badly darling,” Thomas said, appearing from the kitchen.

“I know papa. I’ll put them away when I get home. I promise,” Marinette repeated.

Adrien smiled to himself. Marinette and her parents knew each other so well she could predict what they were going to say before they said it. Whenever Adrien tried to predict what his father would say he either didn’t want to hear it or got a surprise.   
He certainly got a surprise when Marinette came around the corner with her hair tied up in a bun on top of her head, encircled by the ladybug print bow, in a cute white shirt and black skirt with a ladybug print ribbon around the hem.

“Wow. You look great!” Adrien beamed.

Marinette hadn’t seen him sitting there, and she leapt out of her skin at the compliment. “What?! No! Y-you don’t look great I look great. No - I mean, I-I don’t great look, y-you-"

To save his daughter from blushing hard enough to match her bow, Thomas wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“She means you look handsome too Adrien. Although I'm sure you know that, you're a model after all,” he grinned.

Marinette elbowed him and squeaked, “ _papa_!”

“What? He is!” Thomas insisted.

Marinette blushed hard as Sabine hid a giggle behind her hand. Adrien couldn’t stop himself from grinning. he was wearing knee length shorts and his favourite black shirt. He didn’t feel too much like a model today.

“Thanks Mr Dupain,” he smiled.

“Thomas, please,” Thomas smiled. “Mari, have you got enough money for today?”

Marinette nodded. “I think so, yes papa.”

“Alright then, you kids have fun. Don’t be home too late though,” Thomas warned.

“Don’t worry Mr du- um, Thomas,” Adrien smiled at how welcome he felt in their home. “I have a meeting scheduled with my father soon so we can’t be too long.”

Thomas’s stubborn smile shrunk a little. “You have a scheduled meeting? For you father?”

“Yes, in an hour or so,” Adrien nodded, not noticing the slight tension in the air now.

Marinette noticed the tension. She grabbed Adrien’s arm and half pulled him out of the room. “Then we'd better go getting- I mean, get going!"

“Yeah, we should, come on Marinette, see you later Mr and Mrs Dupain-Chang!” Adrien waved behind him as Marinette dragged him away.

The room remained quiet until they heard the front door shut. After the kids shut the door they were out of ear shot. Thomas scowled at Sabine.

“What kind of father has to schedule meetings with his own son?” he asked darkly.

Sabine laid a hand on his arm to soothe him. “Don't worry darling, Mr Agreste is a busy man with all that business in and out of the country. I'm sure it’s a meeting to ensure he gets to spend time with his son and let him know he's loved. If its scheduled into his business plan then its guaranteed. I'm sure Adrien is happy with that arrangement.”

“It sounds cold!” Thomas huffed. “Even with a big business like his he shouldn't have to schedule time to guarantee he gets to see his son. Any day I don't see Mari I can’t stop worrying about what she's up to and how she is. Imagine what kind of father can go days without seeing his child like that!”

“Again, I'm sure Adrien’s happy,” Sabine assured him. then she shrugged as she went back to folding the laundry and added casually, “If he's not, we'll just have to adopt him. There's not much space but if we convert the office into a bedroom then we can do our online business in the living room and he can have that.”

“It's better than nothing but it’s probably a huge step down from the size of his room in that mansion,” Thomas said.

“I'd rather live in a little bakery like this. It’s much cosier and we can't avoid seeing each other,” Sabine said.

Thomas frowned. “Why would you want to?”

“I don’t,” Sabine lifted the pile of laundry to take it away and kissed his cheek as she went, “That’s why I'm happy in our tiny bakery.”

…

Marinette hadn’t been able to form a full coherent full sentence the entire way here, so Adrien had been talking about a TV show the entire time. Plagg was still nestled in his top pocket, rolling his eyes every now and then because as much as he loved Adrien, he was a huge nerd sometimes. Marinette was too busy internally freaking out and desperately trying to figure out what to say to Adrien to realise that they had entered the posh end of town. They suddenly came to a stop in the middle of the street.

“here we are!” he decaled.

He beamed at Marinette and held up a hand to point out the shop front in front of them. it was a salon. Like, a huge, modern, sleek, professional, salon. Marinette’s eyebrows rose. She wasn’t sure whether she actually had brought out enough money now.

“Ever had a manicure before?” Adrien asked.

Marinette stared at him, stricken. “Manicures?”

Adrien’s face fell at the alarm on hers. “Is that ok? you said we could do anything I wanted, I assumed… we can go somewhere else-”

Marinette turned to look back up at the building in front of them. “Are you sure _this_ is what you want?”

Adrien bowed his head sheepishly. “Um, yeah. Chloe always talks about bonding over manicures but Nino says it’s not cool for guys for some reason. He won’t come with me and I don’t wanna go alone, but if you don’t want to-”

Marinette could feel the disappointment in his voice, and she desperately didn’t want to be the one who stopped him from doing what he wanted to do. she’d just have to work hard in the bakery to make back what this was going to cost her.

“Alright. Let’s go get our nails done!” she declared.

Adrien snapped back upright, and grinned. Then he hesitated. “are you sure? we don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Eager to reassure him everything was fine Marinette found her first fall sentence of the day. “No, it’ll be fun!"

Adrien smiled at the lack of stammering. "It will."

Marinette’s first sentence broke down the barrier and the rest came spilling out. She landed on the topic of Alya and ran with it. They fell from her mouth in an unstoppable fountain.

"Yeah. Fun to see how much better the professionals are than Alya. she and I had a manicure Monday in May. It was fun until we accidentally spilt nail polish remover over her sofa and stained it."

“That’s not good,” Adrien said, hoping it would encourage her to continue talking.

She fell for it easily. “No, it’s ok, her parents are used to accidents. Her mother’s a chef and the twins are boisterous. They put a throw over it so no one can see it anymore.”

“genius," Adrien smiled.

Marinette smiled and bit her bottom lip hard. With no idea what else to say she suddenly clamped back up into silence. Adrien just continued as if nothing unusual had happened.

"Shall we go in?” he asked.

She nodded manically but said nothing. Adrien grinned. she was opening up, even if it was just about Alya and only in little bursts. it was a step in the right direction. He was feeling good about this.

a little bell jingled above their head as Adrien pushed the door open and Marinette immediately thought of Chat Noir. It was his fault she was here. it was his fault she was finally being forced to open up around Adrien. he’d pushed her further than Alya ever had, faster than Alya ever could, and it was working!

Adrien walked forward to talk to the woman behind the desk so Marinette stepped back to whisper to her kwami.

“Hey Tikki?”

Tikki peeped up from the bag, just high enough that she could see and only her antenna peered out of the bag. “Yeah girl?”

“remind me to kiss that cat,” Marinette grinned.

Tikki giggled and ducked back into her bag so no one would see her. a mere two hours ago she wanted to kill him, now she wanted to kiss him. typical Marinette. at least she didn’t have to worry about Chat’s safety now.

"Marinette?" Adrien called softly.

There was a cultivated spa-like atmosphere in this salon. The purple walls and black floor muted the noise outside. Or maybe it was the low calming music that was being played on the stereo. Either way they both felt the urge to keep quiet. Marinette turned when she was called and blinked at him. He flashed her a smile and gestured towards a door hidden behind a black curtain beside him. Marinette felt her knees go weak at that smile. Her heart fluttered in her chest as he held the curtain open for her.

All of a sudden, she was grateful for the silent atmosphere here. She couldn't make a fool of herself if she couldn't talk. As the lady lead them through the spa rooms of the salon to the manicurists, Marinette did all she could to avoid staring at Adrien. It meant she made some awkward eye contact with a wrinkly old lady wearing nothing but a bikini which would haunt her for the rest of her life, but Adrien would never know, so she wouldn't have to die of embarrassment thinking about it.

"Here we are," the lady said in her soft voice.

She pulled back the curtain to reveal a room full of woman of various ages squealing with laughter and gossiping hard as they soaked their nails and acted as if the staff just weren't there. Every single person in this room was a woman, and every single one of them did a double take when Adrien walked in. The chatter hushed as they clearly began gossiping about the boy. Marinette felt herself flush. She didn’t like the way they were looking at her, but she couldn't imagine how uncomfortable Adrien must feel.  
To her surprise Adrien appeared unfazed by the attention. She put it down to his work as a model. The idea he could be chased by fans as Chat Noir as well never entered her mind. All she was certain of was he was giving her that heart stopping smile again.

"Ladies first," he said.

...

Alya cupped Marinette's limp hand gently as she stroked the red nail varnish across her nails. Marinette's unpainted hand was working overtime to express the depths of her anxiety.

"Alya, I'm telling you, I _died_! The devil himself appeared right there and damned me to hell forever!" Marinette insisted.

Alya hummed calmly as she painted Marinette's nails like nothing else was going on. "I'm sure it wasn’t that bad girl."

Marinette’s free hand thumped the floor between them as she reiterated, seriously, "I fell _onto_ him. I ended up pinning him to the ground with my _whole_ body! I was too embarrassed to move and I was just staring, pinning him there, and he was so uncomfortable and everyone saw and I _died_ Alya!"

"Ooh, you're right that’s bad. I don’t think you can even come back to school. You're gonna have to drop out," Alya chuckled.

"Don’t even joke Ally, I begged Papa to let me switch schools but he says I'm being dramatic again," Marinette insisted.

"Gee I wonder why," Alya laughed.

Alya laid Marinette's hand on the floor to let the base coat dry and picked up the other hand.

"I know I'm being dramatic Alya, but it was so bad! I can’t ever face him again, I can’t!" Marinette urged.

Alya dipped the brush back into the varnish as she spoke. "Well if you do drop out it'll give you way more time to figure out who Ladybug is for me. I reckon if we really put our minds to it and nothing else for a month we can figure it out."

The topic change made Marinette's stomach drop. Alya talked so breezily about who Ladybug could be, it was like she'd forgotten about Rena Rouge. Like she couldn’t remember the reasons for keeping her secrets secret. Sometimes it worried Marinette.

"What if Ladybug doesn’t want us to know?" She asked, trying to sound calm.

"Well then she shouldn't be so awesome and mysterious! People love a mystery, it just draws them in," Alya shrugged.

Marinette's face twitched but Alya was too busy looking down at her hand to notice. "But what if it’s not safe for people to know who she really is?"

"Well I'm sure Chat Noir knows. I can’t imagine he’s _that_ much safer than the rest of us," Alya huffed.

"I'm sure he is," Marinette replied sharply.

Alya wrinkled her nose. "Is he though?"

"Chats a hero Ally. He fought off the entire police force on his own. He has Ladybug's back at all times. You can't have Ladybug without Chat Noir," Marinette said seriously.

Alya paused to glance up at her before continuing blow gently on her nails to try and dry them faster.

"If you love Chat Noir so much why don't we start trying to get you and _him_ together instead of you and Adrien?" Alya asked between blows.

Marinette looked scandalised. "Chat Noir?! Ew! He's just a friend!"

Alya snapped up away from Marinette's nails. "A friend?!"

Marinette flushed. "Not a _friend_ friend, but, y’know, I’ve met him a couple times, he seems pretty friendly, um-"

Alya cut her off. She clearly hadn’t been listening because her mind was wandering again. "Hey, d’you think if we started trying to work out who Chat Noir is instead of who Ladybug is it'd be easier? Chat doesn’t seem so uptight about keeping his cover."

Marinette didn’t want to dignify that with a response so she moved on as quickly as she possibly could.

"It’s not like we've got a month without distraction to figure it out though," she said.

"Summers coming up. Could do it then," Alya shrugged.

She let go of Marinette's hands so Marinette could lift her hands and begin to file them down and smooth them out like Alya had to her before painting them.

"Aren't you going on holiday with Nino though?" Marinette asked.

"Oh yeah. A tent in the middle of nowhere where I won’t even have service. What will I do without Ladybug news for two whole weeks?!" Alya groaned.

Marinette chuckled to herself, "You should be more concerned about having no shower for two weeks!"

" _Ew_!" Alya squealed.

Marinette and Alya burst into loud laughter at Alya's misfortune together.

...

Thinking back to the only other manicure Marinette had ever had a little smile grew across her face. She was pulled out of her thoughts by Adrien waving a hand in front of her face.

"Earth to Marinette?" He called in a sing song voice.

Marinette blinked in alarm. "Hmm?"

Adrien smirked in amusement. "The lady asked what colours you'd like?"

"Oh, um, sorry," Marinette shifted in her seat, staring down at her hand. "what are the options?"

Adrien leaned over from the table beside her and grinned at her. "Hey, why don’t we get matching nails?"

Marinette's eyes widened. "M-m-matching?"

"Yeah! They've got Ladybug and Chat Noir, you've already got the spots!"

Adrien reached up to bat the bow on her head. She blushed and reeled back out of his reach, visibly flustered.

"I think I'd rather have kitty claws," she muttered.

You could have seen Adrien's grin from the mood. "You’re a chat noir girl?"

Marinette scoffed and wrinkled her nose, "Oh, um, I wouldn’t go that far!"

"But you like him?" Adrien asked.

Marinette shrugged, still staring at her own hands. "He’s a hero. You have to like anyone who's willing to risk their lives for the city."

"I hear that. You know Ladybug saved my life once. That was the moment I decided I wanted to get my degree online after work, all because of her. It was the best decision of my life so far," the girl sitting in front of Marinette said.

Marinette and Adrien both looked up eagerly, keen to hear her story.

"Really?" Marinette asked.

"Yes girl! Those heroes are true to the word," she said. Then she smiled at the look Marinette and Adrien shared. There was awe on both their faces. A matching pair. "Want one set each?"

Marinette knew that she'd live to regret it when Chat Noir came over tomorrow for all the juicy details, but she also knew that she would regret it worse if Alya came home to find out she didn’t match with Adrien.

"I do like Chat Noir," Marinette muttered.

"And I love Ladybug," Adrien agreed.

Marinette snapped up in alarm and stared at him, "Y-you do?"

"Of course, everyone does, right?"

Adrien felt his cheeks turn pink. He tried to hide it by looking down like Marinette was trying to hide behind her hair, but the staff members could see both. They both shared a look as the children blushed.

"One Ladybug and one Chat Noir coming right up," the lady winked.

In the shelter of their charges outfits, the kwamis eves dropped on the conversation as usual. It never failed to amuse them as higher beings that the humans could be so blind. They were literally staring each other in the face and couldn't see who they were looking at. It was both amazing and tragic at the same time.

"So why do you wanna come here?" Marinette asked when she finally had the nerve to ask a question.

Adrien looked up from the strange whirling machine that was being ran across his nails to look over at Marinette.

"Actually, it's just because of Chloe. Every time she sees her mother they go to the salon to get manicures and pedicures and talk and bond with each other and I just..." Adrien shook his head and laughed at himself for feeling so unsettled as he explained it but pressed on regardless. "I like the idea of being able to bond with someone like that. It's just painting your nails, but it’s more than that..." Adrien wrinkled his nose as he forgot how to explain what he meant. "I guess I could understand it better if my mother had ever taken me here."

Marinette softened sympathetically. "Oh Adrien."

"No, no, its fine! She did plenty of things with me, mum she was the greatest! And we're here now, so we get to bond instead!" Adrien insisted enthusiastically.

Marinette's cheeks flushed deeper but she muttered, "I like that," with a smile.

"I do too," Adrien smiled back.

There was a lag in the conversation as the staff members talked them through their options and explained what they were going to do and what they could buy on top of that to ensure their nails stayed pretty and healthy for as long as possible. After they started painting them properly, Adrien leaned towards Marinette again.

"Y’know Mari, my dad’s always so busy working, and Natalie is more of a house manager than family, and the Gorilla-"

Marinette tilted her head. "Gorilla?"

"Oh, my um, my body guard. He never really talks, just stands there looking tough, so I um... it’s a nickname..." Adrien bowed his head.

"Oh," Marinette sounded surprised.

It wasn’t the kindest of nicknames that he could have chosen but it was the one that stuck. To Adrien it was more of a term of endearment now, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a little mean to outsiders.

Marinette bit her lip and tried not to smile but it leeches into her voice. "It kinda suits him."

"Right?" Adrien grinned.

Marinette and Adrien giggled a little, but it was more to relieve the underlining tension and awkwardness than because they found something funny. Then Adrien shook his head and continued.

"Anyway, my point is... I don’t really have a family. Not like you do anyway. The only people that I have that care about me enough to show it are you three. Nino and Alya and you. And Chloe I guess, but... but she’s not like you," Adrien explained.

"No she is not," Marinette said drily.

"What I mean is..." Adrien sighed. He looked down at his hands so he didn’t have to look her in the eyes and said, "I'm really lucky to have you. You guys are family to me."

Marinette felt her heart twitch hard against her chest. "We- w-we are?"

"Yeah! You're like the sister I never had!" Adrien declared.

Tikki and Plagg facepalmed simultaneously. Tikki had known this would be tough, but this - this was just painful!

Marinette froze up. The smile plastered on her face never wavered as the light in her eyes dimmed and her heart was crushed into a million pieces inside her. A piece clogged her throat, choking her whenever she tried to speak. She didn’t try to talk too much for the rest of the day anyway. It hurt too much to try.  
All the while Adrien was smiling warmly and affectionately. He even squidged in close beside her to take a selfie with her. He made her lift her hand up to her chest, just brushing against his, to show off her nails. She tried her best to smile but it looked forced.   
Adrien was walking her home as quickly as he could before he had to rush off to his meeting when  
his phone beeped.   
He was running late.

"Go, go, its fine, I know the way home!" Marinette insisted.

"Are you sure?" Adrien asked uncertainly.

Marinette was beyond certain. The ball in her throat was shoving its way up to her eyes and she desperately didn’t want to cry in front of him.

"Be careful. Get home safe ok?" He urged.

" _Go_ ," Marinette insisted.

Adrien nodded. He hurried off, leaving her in the street to head home herself. Fortunately, she wasn’t very far from home. Marinette practically ran all the way there, and straight up to her room. She didn’t even pause when her parents asked her how her day was.

Marinette slammed the door shut and threw herself faced down onto the sofa. In the deafening silence of Marinette trying to catch her breath back, Tikki crept out of her back.

"You ok girl?" She asked softly.

And that was all Marinette needed to explode into heartbroken sobs. Tikki's own chest ached for her. This was exactly what she feared would happen. All she could do was curl up next to Marinette and hope her miraculous magic would help her to drift off to sleep.

Sleep cures anything.


	4. Chapter 4

Sleep cured nothing.

Marinette vowed to stay in her room, hiding under her blanket, until her heart stopped hurting or an akuma attacked. Whichever came first.  
Marinette's father deal with her heartbreak the way he always had. He baked her a tray of macaroons and kissed her forehead before letting her sulk in her room alone for as long as she needed to. Sabine wasn't thrilled with this system they'd fallen into, but she didn’t have time to do anything about it. Summer brought tourists and tourists adored the idyllic look of the bakery, so they were rushed off their feet today.   
Also rushed off of his feet was Adrien. His father had booked him in for two fittings and a photoshoot in the morning, before his mandarin teacher came in the afternoon. He barely had time to feed Plagg before the afternoon became the evening and he was sent to his room to rest. On the way up his stomach rumbled.

"I'm starving," he grumbled.

"There's still some of Marinette’s cake left," Plagg said.

"But I haven’t figured out the ingredients yet, and if I eat it all, I never will," Adrien said.

"Then don't eat all of it!" Plagg shrugged.

"But-"

"Eat it, don’t eat it, I don’t care, just remember that you’re on patrol tonight."

Adrien groaned heavily. He had forgotten that it was his turn to do patrol. He was already exhausted, running around the city in the middle of the night really wasn’t going to help.

"I should eat before I go right?" Adrien asked.

"The sooner you go the sooner you get home and I can have the cat nap I deserve," Plagg said.

Adrien furrowed his brow at the kwami. "You've done literally nothing but sleep and eat all day."

"And it’s been _exhausting_!" Plagg agreed.

Adrien rolled his eyes. Sometimes Plagg was too much like a cat for his own good. Adrien sliced off a small piece of the cake and bit into it.

"You know I'm sure there's more to this then I'm thinking. It seems too basic. Apricots, rum, nutmeg and almonds don't give enough options for a name. Ladybug would know. Ladybug knows everything," Adrien sighed dreamily.

"Not everything. She doesn’t know who you are," Plagg pointed out.

"But she'd be able to figure it out. She'd sure be able to figure out this!" Adrien insisted. "I know I can’t tell Ladybug what it’s for, that's not fair to Marinette, but I just can’t do this alone."

"What if you don’t run into her today?" Plagg asked.

"I'll wait until the next akuma," Adrien shrugged.

"Yeah we beat hawkmoth, let’s have a slice of cake," Plagg said sarcastically.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Shut up Plagg. Claws out!"

Chat Noir bound with grace and elegance across the rooftops of the city. He kept his head down and kept an eye out for any potential crimes in the streets. Despite the summertime sunsets bring out the romantic crowds there were no bad feelings yet. Everyone was so loved up they were too happy to get akumatized.

Then he thought he'd spotted a flash of purple heading towards Marinette's balcony. He went leaping across the rooves towards her.  
When he landed on the balcony with a clatter. Here there was no sign of an akuma, but no sign for Marinette either.

"How’s it going princess?" He called.

There was no reply from the open skylight so he sat on the recliner and waited for any kind of sign of her.

"Marinette are you in there?" He called.

"I'm down here Chat," Marinette called back drily.

Chat crept forward towards the skylight and peered in. He couldn't see her from up here, so he laid on his belly and peered his head through into the room. He could see her down there laying on the sofa next to an empty box of macaroons and cocooned in a blanket.

"Hey princess!" He called. Marinette didn’t respond so he continued anyway. "I have another list. I think I nearly got it, but I'm not sure. Not that this matters, tell me, how was your day with your friend?"

Marinette spoke from inside the cocoon which muffled her voice a little. "We got manicures."

Adrien put on his best surprised voice. "Really? Do they look good? Can I see?"

"If you must."

Marinette's dry and short replies felt distant. Chat leaned forward and tumbled down into the bed right beneath. He felt himself tumble into a forward roll before landing flat on his back. Had Marinette been feeling herself she would have laughed at him. The fact that she didn't, and didn’t even ask if he was ok, concerned him.

Chat sat up and peered down at her. "Princess? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she lied.

Chat tilted his head. "You don't seem fine."

"Because I'm not fine," she sighed.

Chat frowned. "Then what’s wrong?"

"It's..." Marinette sighed again and shook her head. "it doesn’t matter."

"It matters to me," Chat urged. "What's wrong?"

"It’s nothing you can fix. I need to talk to Alya about it, she'll know what to do, but she doesn’t have any reception so I can’t call her," The frustration edged into her voice.

"Well how'd you know I can’t help? I'm a great helper!" Chat insisted with his usual playful tone.

Marinette just shook her head. "You can't help."

"At least let me try," Chat said quietly.

Chat slid down the ladder with grace and poise. When he landed there was barely a sound. Marinette felt him sit down by her toes so she was forced to sit up and pull her knees up under her chin.

"It's ran," she said finally.

Chats brow furrowed. "Ran?"

"My crush," she said.

"So his name _is_ Ran?" Chat gasped, smiling.

"No, I was making a joke," Marinette said drily.

Chats shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Oh."

"It doesn’t matter anyway because he doesn’t like me like that," Marinette buried her head in her arms at the top of her knees.

Chat felt his chest tighten. He knew how rejection felt. It was different for him because he had to value Ladybug's friendship above any potential relationship with her. They had a deeper bond, they were chosen to be heroes together. To trust their lives to one another.  
But that didn't mean it didn’t hurt that she didn't want more.  
It dawned on Adrien that Marinette had seemed uncomfortable yesterday too when they went out. She was holding herself together around Adrien though. He felt a rush of discomfort as a realisation hit him.  
Marinette was more comfortable talking about things that upset her with Chat Noir than with Adrien.  
She didn’t even want Adrien to know she was worried about him.  
Maybe he’d misjudged their relationship. She clearly didn’t feel as close to him as he felt to her, which meant he clearly wasn’t as close to her as he thought. That hurt. Adrien had only had one friend before school started, and she really was like a sister – well maybe a close cousin. The point was that if he was coming on too strong as Adrien, maybe she was put off by it. That would explain why she couldn’t talk to Adrien without sounding uncomfortable.   
But she was comfortable with Chat, and she needed comforting. He was going to be here for her because right now, neither of them had anyone else. Chat cleared his throat.

"How'd you know?" He asked softly.

"Become he pretty much told me so!" Marinette complained.

"Well come on now maybe there was a misunderstanding!" Chat urged.

"There wasn’t," Marinette said glumly.

She dropped her chin onto her knees again to sulk. Adrien hated seeing her like this. It was so rare to see her without a smile, even around Chloe, that he couldn't imagine anyone being able to hurt her. This was horrible.

"How'd you know? What were his exact words?" Chat asked.

"He said..." Marinette trailed off. Even thinking about it hurt her chest all over again. She grabbed her hair in frustration and growled "ARGH I don’t wanna think about it!"

Chats hands flew into the air in surrender above his head. "Alright. Alright let’s talk about something else."

There was a pause as he tried to think of something to change the subject to. She watched him, wide eyed, trying not to cry again. Finally, he settled on a new topic.

"How was your day?"

"How was yours?" She asked sharply. Then she softened instantly. It wasn’t his fault he wasn’t good at this. At least he was trying. "For a cat with a lot of lessons to do you’re over here a lot."

Seemingly unfazed by the snapping, Chat asked, "Have you ever heard of cats adopting people?"

Marinette gave him a baffled look. "No."

Chat shuffled closer to explain, "Well it's this thing where a stray cat finds a person to care for it that it cares about and decides that it's staying whether the human likes it or not."

"Ok?" Marinette sounded confused and uninterested.

"Well I'm staying. Whether you like it or not," Chat said, stubbornly. Realisation lit her eyes and she softened. He lowered his voice to match. "You're my friend Marinette Dupain-Chang and I care about you. Even if Ran can't see how amazing you are doesn't mean other people won't. Just keep your chin up. The right person is right around the corner. You'll probably bump right into them."

Marinette gave a weak laugh but Chat's chest swelled with pleasure to see her smile again. She knelt up to reach across the small gap between them and wrapped her arms around his neck. Chat was taken by surprised by how easily she could push him backwards. She was stronger than he expected. He held himself up with one hand behind him and held the other against her back in a hug.

"Thanks kitty. I needed that," she whispered in his ear.

"You're welcome purrincess," he said.

She let him go and sat back on the sofa, wiping the dampness off of her cheeks and sniffing a little.

"I just wish Alya was here," she said.

He frowned hard. "Why aren’t I good enough?"

"You’re fine Chat, it’s just that Alya knows everything that's happened. She understands the depth of these things. I need her guidance," Marinette explained.

Adrien couldn’t deny that Alya knew Marinette better than he did. The girls had a connection he didn't understand. It was pure and loyal and stubborn, and he wanted one for himself. But Marinette was right, Alya knew things he didn’t, but he had at least try to help.

"Well I'm no Alya, but there’s plenty of teenage movies about how to get a guy to like you. Why don’t we watch one?" He suggested.

Marinette’s head snapped up to give him a bizarre look. "You wanna watch a chick flick?"

"If it cheers you up and helps you out I'll watch all of them," Chat said seriously.

Marinette's bizarre look didn’t change in her eyes but a smile grew across her face as she thought about his offer.   
Chat scrolled through the movies available online. Marinette was almost pressed against him so both of them could see the computer screen. Marinette had already changed her background to a photo of Ladybug because she didn’t want to see Adrien and she couldn't bring herself to pull down all of the posters around her. Chat hovered on the background like a lovesick Romeo for a while before even clicking onto the websites.

"Ooh, Beauty and The Beast! I love that film!" He grinned.

"I thought Aristocats would be your favourite," Marinette said.

Chat grinned. She still sounded a little fragile but at least she was trying to tease him again. That meant she was feeling better.

"Actually, Hunchback of Notre Dame is my favourite. Aristocats it’s a close to second," he said.

"Where does Beauty and the Beast come?" She asked.

"High. I love that dance scene, it's beautiful," Chat explained.

"That's because it’s the dancing that made them fall in love. It happened in Princess and The Frog too. Something about dancing animals make people fall in love," Marinette said.

Chat's eyes sparkled as an idea struck him. He leapt to his feet and flashed her a mischievous grin.

"Prove it."

She frowned. "What?"

He held out a hand. "Dance with me."

"What?!" She scoffed.

"Come on, it’s not like it'll actually happen right?" He grinned. "And I'm an _excellent_ dancer."

"Well I'm super clumsy. I can't dance," she said seriously.

"What'd you mean you can't dance? Everyone can dance!"

"I’m a walking disaster zone! I can't dance."

"Well we should fix that!" Chat urged.

Chat grabbed her hand, ready to pull her up out of her seat to try and teach her how to dance, but he couldn't even get her out of her chair before she pushed his hand away from her.

"Chat, I just wanna sit here and accept that I'm going to die alone, please don’t make me dance," she sighed.

Chat's shoulders fell. She was slipping back into her slump. He couldn’t allow that. Alya would kill him.

"Fine. We haven’t got any mewsic anyway!" Chat sat down next to her again before he realised that she hadn’t even given him a weak smile. He nudged her gently. "Get it? Mewsic?"

"Hilarious," she sighed.

Chat whined softly. He wasn't entirely sure what more he could be doing, but he knew there should be something. His mind was whirling with things he could do to cheer her up as the film started.

Meanwhile Marinette was settling down beside him, feeling herself quickly calming down. It was just nice to have company when she was down.   
Both of them were pulled from their thoughts by a loud gurgling. Marinette snapped up in surprise to see Chat's wide eyes.

"Was that your stomach?" She asked in amazement.

"Yeah, sorry. It’s been a rush today, I haven’t gotten around to eating yet," he said sheepishly.

Marinette's smile vanished. "You haven’t eaten? Chat you must be starving, why didn't you say anything?!"

Chat shrugged sheepishly. "You were upset, I didn't want to make a fuss."

"Make a fuss if somethings the matter Chat!" Marinette insisted. "I live in a bakery, there’s always plenty of food left over that gets given away to the local food bank before it goes stale. Want some of that?"

Chat frowned. "That's taking from charity-"

"Chat, it's still technically on sale until tomorrow morning, it’s not taking from anything. Consider it a freebie. On the house for the hero of Paris. Because a starving hero is a useless hero!" She said firmly.

"I don’t want to impose-"

"You turned up at my bedroom at sunset, you’re already imposing."

"I am? I'm sorry-"

Chat was clearly becoming flustered and uncomfortable so Marinette took his hands in hers to pull his focus in on her.

"Chat. You don’t have to be sorry. You’re welcome here. If you're hungry, we'll feed you. That's literally our job."

"But-"

"Come on."

It wasn’t a choice. Marinette kept hold of his hand, dragging him behind her as she headed down into the kitchen. Thomas and Sabine were still taking stock in the bakery, so Marinette opened the cupboard and quickly began grabbing snacks.

"Take anything you want but be quick! If my parents find out you're here they’re gonna ask a lot of questions I don’t have answers for," she said.

Chat wasn’t sure he was comfortable just taking anything so he picked up a couple of cakes and a biscuit or two as Marinette filled her arms. Plus this would be easier to carry in case Thomas or Sabine came upstairs before they were expected. He liked Marinette's parents, he didn’t want to upset them by just appearing in their house and taking their food. Guilt was already forming in his chest.

"Maybe I should come by and meet your parents properly. This feels..." Chat trailed off.

"I know. I feel bad about it too, but truthfully it doesn’t matter. They'll be fine with it," Marinette promised.

"I should meet them anyway to thank them, right?" Chat asked.

Marinette looked uncertain. She hadn’t told her parents about all the times she'd spent with Chat as Marinette and shed certainly never told them about the time she spent with him as Ladybug. To them there would be no good reason for Chat turning up to have dinner with them. It would be weird.  
But Chat looked so uncomfortable in her kitchen, and it was so odd to see people uncomfortable in a place where everyone was always welcome, that she found herself nodding.

"I'll talk to my parents about it," she promised.

That meant she was going to have to either lie to her parents or admit strange boys had been coming through her bedroom window at night. She didn't think she could explain without sounding sordid.

Being friends with a hero came with almost as many issues as being one.

Chat scoffed down several cupcakes and all of the biscuits they brought upstairs by himself, and now his gurgling stomach had turned into the hiccups and he was interrupting the movie too much to watch. Marinette had to pause it to try and cure these hiccups before he ruined the film. First, she tried making him hold his breath. unfortunately, he was exhausted too, so he kept having to yawn.

"If you’re that tired you should go home and sleep," she said.

"I'm fine," he lied.

"I can see you're not," she said.

"I'm - hic - fine!" He repeated.

"Are - hic - you?" She teased.

He gave her the best grin he could while holding back a yawn. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You turned up starving and ate so much you got hiccups and you’re exhausted. If you don’t look after yourself how will you look after Paris?"

"I've managed to do so for a year now - hic - I think I'll be fine."

"Chat Noir you will work yourself to death. Go home. Go to sleep. Now!"

Marinette folded her arms and gave him such a stern look that he felt the need to do as she said, but he didn’t want to go yet.

"But you're sad. I - hic - I don’t want to leave you when you’re sad,"

he said.

"I'm not sad," Marinette promised.

Chat raised an eyebrow to show that he didn’t believe her. Her shoulders fell as she sighed.

"I _was_ sad, but I was also kind of being selfish. I was thinking about how he doesn’t love me like I love him, but what he said... he does love me. But he needs me more as a friend right now. Maybe there's still hope," she gave him a soft smile that needed reassuring.

Chat grinned at her. "Of course there is princess. But for the record - hic - any man would be lucky to be your friend. You’re awesome."

"Don't you mean clawsome?" she teased.

"No. I mean awesome. I'm serious Marinette, you're a brilliant person and it's an honour just to know you," Chat promised.

Marinette blushed. She pushed him away so she could hide her smile better. "You're such a dork!"

"But I'm a cute dork," Chat grinned.

"I've seen cuter,” Marinette lied.

"Only in the mirror," Chat grinned.

Marinette rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. Chat stood up and bowed low to take her hand in his. Gently, he kissed the back of it.

"Goodnight princess."

"Goodnight kitty. Thanks for cheering me up."

...

Adrien was barely able to keep his eyes open as he stumbled towards his bed. He allowed his transformation to fall as he fell forward towards the soft, inviting mattress. Adrien hit it hard and sank into it with a satisfied yawn. He was teetering on the brink of sleep when Plagg nudged him curiously from his usual spot on the pillow.

"So what was in the cake?"

Adrien's eyelids snapped open. "Dammit!"


	5. Chapter 5

“My lady, could I ask a favour?”

It had taken Chat Noir a surprisingly long time to work up the courage to ask Ladybug for help. He still wasn’t sure if this was fair to Marinette, but he figured that as long as he didn’t tell her who it involved or what it was for, it wouldn’t matter. It’s not like Ladybug knew Marinette right? although when Ladybug flashed him that warm smile that made her eyes shine like that it made his knees turn to putty and he wasn’t sure how much he could keep back from her.

“Of course, kitty, what's up?” she asked.

Chat pulled a piece of cake wrapped up in a napkin out of his pocket. “Can you try this cake?”

Ladybug instantly regretted agreeing to this favour. She knew exactly what cake he would be offering her, and she also knew how squashed it would be after travelling in his pocket.

“Cake?” she said, trying to sound enthusiastic.

“Please? I'm trying to figure out all of the ingredients and I just can't!” he said.

Ladybug licked her lips uncertainly. Chat felt his stomach twist. He did all he could to keep his eyes off of her lips. She reached out to take the napkin from him. his fingers burned as her hand brushed against them. he felt his heart beat hard in response. Try as he might, he couldn’t pull his eyes away. She unwrapped the cake and raised it to her lips. A spark of jealousy made him question himself when her mouth met the cake.

To cover her tracks Ladybug asked, “Mmm, it's delicious, did you bake it?” then she realised her mistake and added, sheepishly, “No of course not, you’re trying to figure out the ingredients.”

Chat bowed his head to hide his smile. it wasn’t very often that Ladybug made a mistake like that. it was only a little thing, but it made his heart glow like the moon.

“My friend made it. There's a message in the ingredients that I need to figure out,” he explained.

Ladybug hummed thoughtfully. She didn’t know which of the ingredients he had figured out yet and which he hadn’t, but she had to assume that he had forgotten about the most basic ones. It wouldn’t be a surprise, even Alya had forgotten about flour until Marinette asked her if she’d put any in. Chat probably had thought about them yet.

“Does that include eggs?” Ladybug asked, innocently.

Chat’s eyes snapped up to meet her own, “Eggs?”

Ladybug bit back a laugh. “Eggs an important ingredient in cake. Does egg count?”

Chat stared off into the distance, as If mentally searching his mind for the answer. He couldn’t find one. “I have no idea.”

Ladybug smirked. her earrings beeped. She folded the napkin back over the cake, took Chat’s hand in hers, and pressed the cake into his palm.

“Maybe you should ask,” she suggested.

Chat’s heart beat hard at the way she was holding his hand. He was being ridiculous. She’d grabbed him by the waist to throw him across the street not ten minutes ago, and he’d caught her in his arms like a baby when she fell off of the roof of that bus, but this… this tenderness… the lightest of touches, without need for them… His heart was going wild.

"See you soon kitty!" Ladybug called as she went swinging across the rooftops away from him.

Chat Noir swooned. He was so utterly love struck watching her go that he almost missed the beeping of his ring. He only had two minutes to get off of this roof and find somewhere safe to transform. He barely made it back to his bedroom before Plagg was forced to transform him.

"I'M DYING!" Plagg declared dramatically the moment he was free from the ring. "YOURE SO HOPELESSLY IN LOVE WITH LADYBUG THAT YOU DON'T EVEN _CARE_ ABOUT HOW I AM STARVING! I'M ABSOLUTELY GOING TO DEFINITELY DIE THIS VERY MINUTE UNLESS YOU FEED ME _IMMEDIATELY_! OH WOE IS ME! WOE IS-"

Adrien grabbed Plagg with one hand and shoved camembert into his chest with the other, hissing, "Shut up before someone hears you!"

Plagg stuffed the entire cheese into his mouth and spoke with his mouthful, spraying it across the room. "Its not my fault you care more about Ladybug than me. Your own, poor, loyal kwami!"

"Plagg, you’re my best friend. Of course I care about you," Adrien said seriously.

"You care about _her_ more!" Plagg huffed.

"Wow you’re really wearing those green eyes today," Adrien chuckled. He headed over to the table where he'd left the list of cake ingredients he was working on. "Come here, I need your brilliant brain to figure out Marinette's message."

"Finally, some recognition!" Plagg said.

He flew over to land on Adrien's head as the boy took a piece of cake to try once more and catch any ingredients he might have missed before.

"So, what have we got? Almonds, apricots-" Adrien began.

" _Dried_ apricots," Plagg corrected.

"Huh?"

"I saw part of the ingredients list in her room."

Adrien's hand fell, "You didn’t tell me that!"

"You didn’t ask!" Plagg countered.

Adrien sighed in frustration. "What did it say Plagg?"

"Almonds, dried apricots, rum. That’s all I saw," Plagg listed.

"So is it D or is it D-A?" Adrien asked.

"D. Why would she be specific about what kind of apricots if it was just for A?" Plagg said.

Adrien hummed thoughtfully. He wrote down what Plagg had said and added the eggs. Then he started chewing the end of his pen thoughtfully as he stared at the new collection of letters he had to work with.

"Almonds, dried apricots, rum, nutmeg, eggs... is there a name in there?" He wondered aloud.

"Is there?" Plagg asked, pointedly.

"A-D-R-N-E... hmmm...." Adrien's frown stayed furrowed hard as he thought. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he gasped. "Plagg! That’s it! I’ve got it!"

...

"André!"

Marinette leapt so far out of her skin at the sudden declaration from directly behind her that she fell off of her chair. She hadn’t head Chat land or his bell twinkle as he snuck in like she usually did. Her mind was too focused on what tomorrow would bring. Alya was coming home tomorrow and she would demand to know exactly why Marinette spent almost the whole week with Chat Noir. It was a good question that Marinette hadn't gotten around to asking yet. She was just appreciative of the company and the attempt at help.

Even if she didn’t end up in a heap on the floor.

"Sorry," Chat said as he pulled her to her feet.

She dusted herself down and took a deep breath or two to ease her racing heart. "You scared the daylights out of me!"

"I was just excited, I didn’t mean to, I'm sorry!" Chat repeated.

"Its fine, no harm down. What’s got you so excited?" She asked.

Chat lit up. Properly. He looked like the Eiffel tower at night.

"I got the ingredients. I got," he paused for dramatic effect. "a _name_."

Marinette slowed heart now fully stopped. She immediately regretted giving him even a slice of that cake, and telling him why she made it, and she was kicking herself for telling him about the eggs. It had all been fine when he didn’t know who her crush was, but now he _knew_ it was Adrien and he didn’t know he was in her class so she just looked like a crazy fan, and that was mortifying. Especially with all of Adrien's pictures surrounding them.

"Y-you do?" Marinette stammered.

Chat's eyes shone smugly. "A-N-D-R-E. André."

Marinette nearly collapsed with relief. Her shoulders fell and her heart beat on. She even managed to flash him a relieved smile that raised his hopes before she shook her head.

"No."

Now it was Chat's turn for his face to fall. He frowned, eyebrows furrowed, jaw dropped, looking scandalised.

"N-no?! What other name has all those letters?!" He demanded.

"You're missing one," she said.

"I'm - what?! How?! I got all the ingredient! What could I possibly be missing?!" Chat demanded.

"What about the icing sugar?" Marinette asked without thinking.

She was so keen for Chat to know she'd got one over him that she was giving herself away. Chats frown deepened.

"What icing sugar - there is no icing sugar!" He threw his arms in the air angrily.

"Not anymore no, it'll have dissolved into the rum, but there was icing sugar on top. I'm impressed you remembered eggs though. Alya didn't," Marinette said.

She chuckled as she went back to what she was doing, but Chat latched onto her arm and fell to his knees, ready to beg desperately for answers.

"Please princess, pretty please just tell me!"

Marinette laughed properly now. He was cute when he was pathetic. Marinette patted his head affectionately but pushed his hands off of her arms. They clattered to his side with a sigh.

"You have all the letters kitty. N-E-I-R-D-A. Figure out the name."

...

"Who could it BE Plagg?!" Adrien whined, pacing back and forth.

Plagg blinked lamely at the boy as he walked back and forth. "Adrien."

"It doesnt make any sense!"

"Adrien?"

"Neirda, Eirdan, Danier, Andier - none of these are names!"

"Adrien?!"

" _What_ Plagg?!" Adrien snapped.

Plagg tilted his head. "I think you should get your eyes tested."

Adrien frowned. "Is it that obvious to you? What is it?"

"Look at them Adrien. Really look Adrien. Is there anything familiar in them Adrien, anything at all?"

Adrien did as he was told but he stared hopelessly. All he could come up with was "Rained?"

Plagg rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. "Yes. Perfect. Congratulations, you got it, Marinette has a crush on a guy named RAINED!"

"Argh this is making my head hurt!” he ran his hands through his hair hopelessly. “We're not getting anywhere here. I think we should call it a night."

Plagg felt a burst of frustration. He wanted Adrien to try just a little harder so he would be able to see what the letters actually spelt, but he couldn’t force it. Centuries of working with his charges had taught him that they always worked it out exactly when they needed to. It was just frustrating to get there.

"If that's what you think Adrien. I'm always ready to call it a night."

...

After a long week of camping Alya and Nino were more than ready to come home. Due to many unforeseen complications on the way back, however, they arrived back in Paris tired, stressed out, and at almost two in the morning. Caked in mud that stank just as much dried as it had while wet and aching from sleeping on the hard ground for a week, Alya had never been so grateful to be home.   
The warm shower took off so many layers of dirt she felt like she'd just taken off a face mask that she'd left on too long, and now she had the skin of a toddler. It eased her aching muscles too. Fresh, clean clothes, completely free of bugs, were soft and warm and comfortable. Even dripping wet her bed was softer and far more comfortable than anything she'd felt all week.  
Plus here, tucked into the bedsprings of her mattress for safety away from her sisters, was Alya's phone. She finally had her phone back after using Nino's all week. Alya could drain his battery in three hours and they could only charge it in the café where they had dinner, and they'd cooked their own on the camp fire last night.  
Reunited with her phone once again, Alya felt complete. It was the first time in what felt like an age that she didn't have that sickly feeling she was forgetting something.   
Laying on her soft bed with her own phone in her hand, wearing fresh clothes and feeling clean, Alya let out a deeply content sigh.

And then her phone buzzed to remind her she had a message.

Curiously, she checked it. And sat bolt upright, wide away, shocked to the core at what she saw before her.

"WHAT?!"

…

"Imagine it girl, I roll back into the city and the first thing I see when I _finally_ get Wi-Fi, is _you_ and Adrien, in a _nail_ salon with _matching_ nails! I've been going crazy trying to figure out what the hell happened! Last week you couldn't even talk to the boy, and now you're hanging out with him alone?!"

Alya folded her arms across her stomach and her legs beneath her and glared at Marinette hard enough to drive in the bitterness she wore so vividly anyway.

"It's really simple Alya-" Marinette began.

"That did not look simple!" Alya huffed.

"It is though! Chat Noir made me text Adrien without you-"

"What?!"

"And we ended up going to get manicures together-"

" _What_?!"

"And we got matching Ladybug and Chat Noir nails-"

" **WHAT**?!"

"And then Adrien said I'm like a sister to him."

Alya's shocked and furious scowl vanished into surprised sympathy. "Oh girl..."

Her heart went out to her best friend. Marinette could feel the sympathy in her voice but her eyes were sharp with thought, already planning how to get away with this.

"This is exactly why you leave boy stuff to your best friend and not strays that come in off the street!" Alya said bitterly.

Marinette frowned. "Chat's not a stray Alya."

"It was a pun Mari, you love puns!" Alya insisted.

Marinette shook her head. "Not today."

Alya leaned forward and took both of Marinette’s hands in hers and squeezed them firmly. "Well we're gonna fix this, because that’s what best friends are for."

"How? You can't take this away from him, he doesn't have anyone else," Marinette said.

The empathy in her voice was soft, so Alya waved her arm carelessly.

"Sure he does! He’s got Chloe! Lord knows why but he does," she declared.

"Yeah but he's _always_ had Chloe," Marinette said.

"So? He probably always will have Chloe. God could you imagine having to know Chloe all your life?" Alya shuddered at the idea.

"All Adrien wants is people who will care about him. His father is always too busy working to show that he cares, and Chloe only cares about herself, so all he has is Nino," Marinette insisted.

"Nino's more than enough for some people," Alya said firmly.

"Nino's the best, but Adrien needs more. He's sweet and innocent and he bonds with people so quickly -"

Alya cut her off stubbornly. "I'm sorry I have to open your eyes to your love blindness girl, but Adrien is sweet and innocent because his father’s keeps him locked up with models all day. He didn't know about how to make friends until he met us because all he had was Chloe. He bonds with anyone who's nice to him because he's such a Hufflepuff that he sees good in everyone!"

"You say that like it’s a bad thing," Marinette frowned.

"Of course it isn't. It's just that... I dunno, he's naive. One nice deed is easy to fake but enough to fool him. He probably didn’t mean he thought of you as a sister, but all he has to compare you to is Chloe," Alya said pointedly.

Marinette reeled back in disgust. "Hey don’t compare me to her!"

"He doesn’t have a choice Marinette. We gotta show him what it’s like to have a sister so he'll realise that’s not what you are," Alya insisted.

"How do we do that?" Marinette asked.

Marinette wasn’t keen on the idea of having to explain how or why she wasn't like Chloe, so if Alya had an idea involving that, she was going to have to think again. Unfortunately Alya didn’t even consider that an option. In her mind, Marinette still couldn’t string a sentence together in front of Adrien. She had no idea how much had changed since she'd been gone.

"Marinette, Manon is here for you to babysit!" Sabine called upstairs.

"I'll be right down!" Marinette called back.

Alya's eyes were gleaming with a plan. A terrible plan. She grinned evilly at Marinette, making her stomach knot. Then Marinette caught onto what Alya was thinking. Her stomach dropped.

"No!" She cried.

"He'll never know how annoying siblings are until you give him one!" Alya insisted.

"Not Manon! Give him one of yours! Give him both of yours!" Marinette hissed.

Alya’s eyes shone again, "Why don’t we get him to babysit all three?"

"Because that's cruel," Marinette said.

"Marinette!" Sabine called again.

"Do you want him to always see you as a sister?" Alya hissed.

"No of course not-"

Marinette was interrupted by Manon bursting through the bedroom door like a firework, and whizzing around the room with two shiny ribbons trailing behind her. Alya crouched down as Manon got closer and flashed her a grin.

"Heya Manon, wanna go to the park?" She asked.

Manon bounced excitedly. "Yay!"

Marinette face palmed.

...

“What’s going on with your nails bro?”

“don’t you like them?”

“Course I do, they suit you. Who’d you get this go with you?”

“Marinette.”

“Really? But that place is expensive, how’d she afford that?”

“Well I offered to pay because I was trying to prove that she's like family to me, but-“

Nino spat his drink everywhere, choking himself, but still managed to splutter out a shocked, "You did what?!"

"I told Marinette that you three were like family to me. Why? Don't you think we could be a family?" Adrien asked anxiously.

Nino saw his life flash before his eyes. Alya undoubtedly already knew that this had happenes, which meant that Nino would inevitable be yelled at for allowing Adrien to be an idiot. Nino would then point out he wasnt actually here but on holiday wth her, and she’d tell him not to be such a smart arse. Adrien waved a hand infrint of Ninos face to bring him back. He was looking anxious himself so Nino tried to think of the best way to explain the problem.

"Of course we could be a good family,” Nino began.

Adrien heaved a sigh of relief. "Exactly, besides-"

"No, no, dude, we could. You and me. I mean come on you’re practically my brother. But you and Marinette?” Nino shook his head with a weak laugh, “no. No way."

Adrien frowned again. "Why not?"

It was the strange look of disappointment and confusion over Adrien’s face that made Nino realise something that made his jaw drop.

"Do you seriously not know yet? Dude, do you need glasses?" he asked.

"You’re the second person to ask me that this week," Adrien said.

"Then maybe you should get your eyes checked," Nino smirked.

"Maybe..."

Adrien slurped on his drink thoughtfully. Something was going on with Marinette and nino knew about it. Whether Nino knew because Marinette told him herself or because of Alya, Adrien didnt know, but Nino was keeping a secret. 

But Adrien couldn't figure out howto ask what it was so he changed the subject.

"how did Alya get on with your family anyway?" He asked.

"Great. My dad thinks she's awesome which isn’t really a shock, but - oh my God..."

Nino stared straight passed Adrien, his eyes growing wide with alarm as he saw something that he really hoped he was imagining. Adrien tilted his head at Nino, baffled.

"What?"

Nino cleared his throat uncertainly. "You know you asked if I thought we'd make a good family?"

"Yeah?" Adrien asked.

"Looks like were about to find out,"

Nino gestured behind him so Adrien turned.

Manon sat on top of Marinette's shoulders, waving her ribbons on sticks to try and get the wind to lift them, while Ella and Etta both circled around Alya and Marinette with their arms out stretched pretending to be aeroplanes.

Manon gasped when she Adrien, recognising him instantly. Manon tumbled down from Marinettes shoulders eagerly and darted off to attatch herself to his leg.

"MANON, NO!" Marinette cried.

Marinette raced after her to bundle her up but Manon clung onto Adrien's leg tighter. Adrien smiled down at her so she beamed at him. Marinette got there seconds later and Adrien looked up at her with the same bright smile, and she felt an arrow hit her heart hard enough to push her back.

Marinette got flustered and Adrien had a kid latched onto his leg, so Nino stood up to kiss Alya's cheek.

"Is this why you wanted us to come to the park?" he whispered, his eyes shining knowingly.

Alya gave a fake gasp, "No! I just missed you so much!"

She bit back a grin as she pinched his cheek playfully. Nino laughed and pushed her hand away.

"Yeah right," he said sarcastically.

"I did! I could barely sleep without your music play list," Alya said.

"You hated my play list, why are you lying?" Nino laughed.

"Because I think this is my dumbest plan yet and I want you to defend me if it goes wrong," Alya said, honestly.

"You can defend yourself, I've seen it," Nino said.

"I'd like back up," Alya stated.

"So would Marinette," Nino said pointedly.

Alya looked up. Marinette had a twin climbing onto each arm and jumping up and down to turn her into a human seesaw. Adrien had lifted Manon onto his lap and she had climbed up onto her back and was now kicking him to try and force him into a piggyback ride.

"Marinette isn't he your model boyfriend?" Manon yelled.

Marinette turned scarlet. "What?! N-no-"

Adrien came to her rescue by looking up to look at Manon. Now his forehead was near her face, Manon leaned over to lay her eyes on top of his. It was a little unnerving since she had to cling to his hair to keep her balance now she was on her tiptoes, and if either one of them got hurt they'd all be in trouble.

"Marinette is just a friend," Adrien said warmly.

"That's not what Alya says!" Ella declared.

Adrien raised his head. Moving like this made Manon cling tighter to his hair, so she was lifted off her feet and she ended up laying on his head.

"What does Alya say?" Adrien asked.

Marinette turned beatroot. Adrien couldnt see because Manon slid forward over his head, and blinded him by falling across his face.

"Alya says-" Ella began.

Marinette suddenly lost her balance and slanted down heavily on one arm. Etta had dropped off of her other arm to dart across and cover Ella's mouth urgently.

"Shh! It’s a secret!" Etta hissed.

Ella shoved her away do Etta punched her and Ella yowlled in pain. "Alya, Etta punched me!"

"Did not!" Ella yelled.

"Did too!"  Etta yelled back.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Marinette looked up desperately at Alya, beyond flustered, utterly disparing, and Alya stared back, completely at a loss as to how to help. Nino pulled his headphones up and took a couple of steps back towards the path, so if he needed to run and pretend this was nothing to do with him, he could get away with it.

Fortunately for all of them, Plagg was whispering in Adrien's ear. Adrien might not have had siblings, but many previous Chat Noir's had, and Plagg had quickly picked up on how to deal with them.

Adrien knelt down, allowing Manon to clamber onto his back as he took a twin in each hand. He called out loudly and then softened his voice as the girls stopped yelling.

"Hey, hey, ladies, how about we play a game?"

"What kind of game?" Ella asked urgently.

"What game do you wanna play?"Adrien asked.

"Unicorns!" Manon yelled.

"Tag!" Etta yelled.

"Hide and seek!" Ella yelled.

"Ooh, I wanna play hide and seek!" Etta gasped.

Manon whined grumpily about how they weren't listening to her. Marinette looked back to Alya. Both of them knew that Manon could be spoilt, and Marinette desperately didnt want Adrien to have to suffer what a spoilt toddler tamtrum was like - Alya, however, thought that the learning curve could be valuable.

"I'll only play if you play too!"

Manon decalred, stamping her feet in Adrien's direction.

"Of course I'll play. I'll go first. Ready girls?" Adrien asked.

All three of the girls raced off in other directions, scattering across the park. They looked over their shoulders and shouted back at the teenagers they were running away from.

"Count to two hundred!" Ella yelled.

"And fifty!" Etta yelled.

"Three!" Manon yelled.

All three of them were already gone when Alya paused to talk to Adrien. She slowed to talk to him but didnt stop. All three of the girls were already finding hiding spots, so Alya needed to keep an eye on all of them.

"Count to twenty and take your time, they'll never hide well anyway," she said.

Adrien laughed and nodded. He covered his eyes as he counted. Since he wasnt looking, Marinette took that opportunity to run. Run and hide.

"Where are you going?" Tikki asked as her bag bounced against her leg.

"I gotta keep an eye on Manon, if she gets hurt I'll be in so much trouble!" Marinette insisted.

"Manon will be fine! Come on Marinette, it's been ages since you four got to hang out, why don't you play in teams?" Tikki asked.

"No way! This is a stupid idea, Adrien is gonna figure out what we're doing and he's gonna know!" Marinette insisted.

"So what, you're just going to avoid him all day?" Tikki asked.

"I could avoid him forever," Marinette said.

"Marinette-"

Tikki gasped when she spotted Ella's shoes peering out from underneath the bench. She dove into her bag for shelter, which gave Marinette a rush of relief. For about two seconds. Then Alya reached out and grabbed her, yanking her behind the tree she was hiding with.

"Is it working?!" Alya asked.

"Working? Girl this plan is crazy! I should have just listened to Chat Noir," Marinette whined.

Alya frowned hard. "Chat Noir? What happened between you and him while i was gone? You've been talking about him all day!"

Marinette frowned back. "What, no i havent!"

"Feels like it. You like him or something?" Alya asked.

Marinette had started to peer around the tree to watch Adrien start searching, so she wasn't listening to Alya. Alya poked her to get her attention back.

"Huh? Oh, sure, he's a good friend," Marinette said.

"So he is a friend now? Before you said-"

"Found you!" Adrien cried giddily.

Marinette and alya pinned themselves flat against the tree trunk as Nino stumbled out from behind a bush.

"Oh no dude, and i was hiding so well!" He said sarcastically.

Adrien laughed viciously and nudged him, "Come on, help me find the others!"

Their voices were louder and clearer as they came over towards the tree. Alya nudged Marinette and placed a finger to her own lips to silence her. Marinette nodded. As the boys got closer, the girls edged towards the side of the tree trunk.

"You know ive never actually played this before. Its actually pretty fun!" Adrien said.

Nino stopped him dead in his tracks, "Whoa, wait, you never played hide and seek before?"

"No. Well, not really," they began to wander again as Adrien explained, "I'd play with some models during the shoots, or with my father, but they just wanted me to go away. No one ever came looking so eventually i stopped hiding."

"Wow, that's awful dude," Nino said sympathetically.

"Is it? I mean I'm pretty good at hiding now. I once stayed in the same cupboard for almost five hours and no one knew I was there - oh wait... maybe they did... they weren't looking..."

Adrien sounded so hurt by this realisations that Marinette's heart went out to him. It ached for him to feel the love he deserved and tugged at its strings to force Marinette over like a marionette.

"Oh, Adrien," she said softly as she wrapped her arms around him.

Adrien was taken by pleasant surprise by his friend coming out of her hiding space to hug him around his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders in return. Both of them completely missed the gaping eyed shock of their friends beside them.

Adrien put his lips against her head and whispered, playfully, "Found you!"

Marinette let out a small giggle. She didnt mind being captured now. Adrien had had a tough childhood, even if he didnt seem to know it sometimes. He needed someone to keep him company back then. Someone to take care of him and help him to have fun.

He needed a sister.

If Marinette was the closest thing he had, then she was going to be the best sister he could ever wish for.

...

Adrien plumped his pillows and yawned into his hand. "Today was a good day. Today was fun."

Plagg pulled at a thorn that had embedded itself into his skin. It wouldnt budge. He found groaned bitterly. "Was it?"

"Yeah!" Adrien beamed. "I mean, the girls are a handful, but Marinette's great with kids. I saw the way she looked after Manon after she fell over and made sure she was ok without any tears. She's going to be a wonderful mother one day!"

Adriens words were lost in a yawn so Plagg came over to land on the back of the sofa behind him.

"Tired?" He asked, pointedly.

"I've been a climbing frame for three hyperactive toddlers all day, of course I'm tired!" Adrien said.

"Imagine how you'd feel if you had to live with them," Plagg said.

Adrien gave him a funny look. "What'd you mean?"

"I mean Marinette and Alya were being ridiculously unsubtle and you still can't see what they were up to!" Plagg laughed.

Adrien frowned. "What are you on about Plagg?!"

"Adrien, you told Marinette you wanted sisters and suddenly Marinette and Alya have three little girls you need to look after. Think about it," Plagg said.

Adrien frowned as he thought hard. As the realisation sunk in, his frown lifted and his eyes lit up in wonder.

"They were trying to help me experience what having sisters was like?" He sounded surprised.

"Did you enjoy it?" Plagg asked.

"Yeah... i just thought they wanted company while babysitting, four of us to shepard the three of them, but thats so sweet of them!" Adrien grinned.

"It is?"

"I didn't realise..."

"Aren't you glad you're an only child now?" Plain asked, insisting, "Theres no fussy spoilt brat constantly around to make a mess and climb all over you and steal your food!"

Adrien laughed loudly, "Thank you for filling that hole Plagg!"

Plagg scowled. "Hey, i do a lot for you! I turn you into a hero, youd be lost without me!"

"That's true." Adrien scooped up Plagg and pulled the thorn out of his skin. He yelped, but he felt better when it was out. Adrien cuddled him gently. "Thanks Plagg."

Plagg rolled his eyes but purred softly. "Adrien. I'm glad you're an only child. I'd hate to put up with this every day!"

Adrien just laughed and scratched him under the chin.


	6. Chapter 6

Marinette's hair was swept up into a bun on top of her head, and she was wearing a pretty peach dress and a little blue apron with white polka dots. She was standing on her balcony, tidying up the plant pots to make sure they were all still growing and unharmed by the new frequent visitor. Chat watched her from the rooftop above for a while. He followed her with his eyes as she wandered to the plants to lift a single pot and examine it on the table. She stroked each leaf, checking to see where the bugs had munched on them, and which ones were wilting. Each one got a douse of water from her pretty pale blue watering can. All the while she was humming to herself and chatting cheerfully to the plants around her.   
At least that's what it looked like.  
This Marinette, the one cheerfully caring for her plants, was calm and at peace. She was a million miles away from the sulky burrito he'd seen two days ago. Chat thought back to the park. Marinette had knelt down next to Manon and cleaned off the scape to her knee in seconds. He was too far away to hear what she was saying, but her warm smile was calming enough, and it worked on Manon. Despite the tears in her eye, she didn’t start crying. In fact, she giggled. Then Marinette had pressed a ladybug plaster onto her scrape and helped her back to her feet.

Chat gave an affectionate smile. Marinette's heart was so bursting with love that it spilt out for her plants too.  
Someone was going to be very lucky to fall for her one day.

He knelt down, settling in to watch her go, listening to the calm, happy tune she was humming. It wasn’t familiar to him in any way, but it made him happy to see her happy humming it. The contentment seeped into him and calmed him as it calmed her. Chat didn't even notice the low rumbles escape from his throat as he began to purr.   
Marinette glanced up, expecting to see a regular cat curled up by her chimney. It wouldn’t exactly be the first time. She was rather taken by surprise to see Chat Noir sat with his legs crossed in the same place.

"Oh! Kitty! I didn’t see you there," she said.

There was humour in her voice despite the surprise. Chat raised his head from his hand and smiled affectionately at her.

"I've been here a while. It's relaxing to watch you work. You look happy," he said.

"I am. I found out something yesterday and it made me feel better," Marinette smiled.

Chats smile widened. "Oh? Care to share?"

"My crush-"

"Ran."

"Ran," Marinette corrected, holding in a laugh.  "He doesn't love me like I love him, but he loves me like a sister. He doesn’t have a sister. He doesn’t have anyone to be honest-"

"I know how he feels," Chat whispered too low for her to hear.

"He’s missed out on a lot of things because everyone wants him to do things their way, and he’s so sweet, and he wants everyone to be happy, so he just goes along with it, even if it doesn’t make him happy... Well he deserves more than that. He deserves someone who's there for him no matter what. Like a sister," Marinette said firmly.

"Someone like you?" Chat asked.

"Exactly," she nodded firmly. "He might not love me like I want him to, but he cares about me, so I'm gonna make sure he knows I care too. In whatever way he needs."

Chat felt his chest warm with affection. "He has no idea how lucky he is." Marinette smiled and blushed. He slid off of the roof and landed beside her. "And I still have no idea who he is."

Marinette’s smile faded a little as she tilted her head at him. "You still haven't figured it out?"

"I think I might be going blind," he admitted.

Marinette cupped his cheek gently and said, "Stick with it kitty, you're smart, I know you'll get there."

Her hand slipped away as she moved back to her plants, both unaware of the soil left on his face now. Chat caught her hand as she moved away and turned it over to examine the black and green ode to him.

"I like your nails," he said, smugly.

She pulled her hand away, "Don't flatter yourself, he wanted Ladybug so I got Chat to match."

Chat lifted the next plant pot for her so they would have to trade in mid-air. She took it, handed him hers, and set it on the table. He placed this pot neatly back in place.

"I have news about Ladybug," he said.

Her heart missed a beat. "Y-you do?"

She felt his hand clamp on her shoulder and found it hard to find her breath. If he had found out who she was then they could both be in danger.

"She likes your cake," Chat said.

"My cake?" Marinette could have fainted in relief.

"Yes. She likes your cake. I'm sorry, I couldn't figure out eggs alone so I asked her for help," He explained.

Marinette gave a relieved laugh and patted his arm on her shoulder playfully. "Silly kitty."

Once she'd relaxed enough to begin to breath calmly again, she felt the playful ideas bounce around her head.

"I'm gonna get Papa to put that on the door," she raised her arms as if she was showing him an invisible sign, "Ladybug and Chat Noir Approved! It'd bring in the customers. By the way what are you doing on Thursday?"

Sneaking out for a pre-dawn cinema trip with Nino, then catwalk in the morning, mandarin class, small private shoot in the afternoon and patrol in the evening.

None of which he could tell her about.

"Nothing major, why?"

"I asked my parents if you could come to dinner and they said yes," she said.

Chat lit up. "Really?!"

"Yep. It's going to be kind of weird but it'll be fun," she smiled.

Chat beamed at her. He was finally going to experience a real family dinner! He was walking on air, right until Alya's voice came calling from the bedroom.

"Marinette?!"

"Up here."

"Marinette you'll never guess who's on the cover of - oh!"

Alya hesitated by the door when she saw him. He was in the same, slightly arrogant pose with a hand on his hip and that cocky smirk that he had when she was Rena Rouge, but it was different now. Then she had a mask to hide behind to. Playing off of his banter was what he expected from a hero, what she expected from a hero, but they weren't heroes today. She wasn’t entirely sure what her relationship with Chat was supposed to be like anymore.

"H-hello Chat Noir," she stammered.

Chat bowed, taking her hand in his, and kissed his gently. Then he flashed her a smile. "Hi Alya."

"You know my name?" She felt her heart miss a beat.

He gave her a bizarre look. "You helped us with Bad Owl remember?"

She blushed. How could she have forgotten?! "Oh, yeah..."

"Plus Marinette never stops talking about you," Chat added.

"Well I am her best friend," Alya said, pointedly.

Marinette had said nothing since Alya appeared but now she could feel both of their eyes burning into her skull. She tilted her head towards them.

"Who's on the cover of what?" She asked.

"Teen Gabriel's," Alya said, walking away from Chat as briskly as possible.

"Adrien?" Marinette asked.

"Nope."

Alya dropped the magazine on the table in front of Marinette with less dramatic flair than she had been planning. Chat had thrown her off. The reaction of horrified shock from Marinette was pretty much what she had expected though.

" _Chloe_?!"

Adrien frowned in confusion. He leaned over Marinette's shoulder to look at the magazine. Chloe modelled like she was taking selfies, posing and pouting. Adrien wrinkled his nose. He had taught Chloe to model properly so she could pretend to be like her mother, but over time she'd clearly forgotten all she'd been taught.

"I'd be such a better model than her and I don’t even like modelling!" Marinette huffed.

"What? You’re a fashion designer!" Chat said.

"Exactly, I'm not a model," Marinette said.

"Neither is Chloe. I bet she got _daddykins_ to pull off some deal," Alya snarled.

"You know how close she is to Adrien, she probably just asked Gabriel herself," Marinette whined.

"Chloe wouldn't do that," Chat said.

"How would you know? Chloe would do anything to get her claws into Adrien just to have something pretty to make people jealous with," Alya said.

"That’s mean Alya," Chat said.

"It’s not wrong," Marinette said.

"She causes more akumas than anyone else, why are you defending her?" Alya demanded impatiently.

"It’s mean to blame people for akumas. Chloe might be a wind-up merchant but its _Hawkmoth_ that causes akumas. It wouldn't matter if anyone got upset if Hawkmoth wasn’t taking advantage and manipulating them, it’s his fault, no one else’s," Chat argued stubbornly.

"He's right Ally. Chloe might be a pain but Hawkmoth is what makes her dangerous," Marinette agreed.

"That doesn’t stop her being a bully!" Alya spat.

"No, it doesn’t, and she probably did make her parents get Gabriel to put her on the cover-" Marinette began.

"Chloe is always featured in this seasons magazine because it's almost the anniversary of when her mother left, and I - Adrien begged Gabriel to let her join him on set to model because she wanted to be like her mother. This time she's on the cover. It's no different to when she's on page seven," Chat explained.

"How do you know so much about Adrien and Chloe's relationship Chat?" Alya challenged, a hand on her hip.

Chats eyes widened, panicked about how to explain away what he had just said. "I-I-I can’t say."

"Why not?" Alya pressed stubbornly.

Marinette could see the growing panic on Chat's face. She wanted to know why Chat knew so much about Adrien too, but to wasn’t worth seeing him squirm.

"Alya, calm down. You're not turning my balcony into a shake down for your blog. Chats a guest here, just like you," Marinette said firmly.

Alya hadn’t even thought about her blog, she was just irritated with how chummy he was being with her best friend.

"Sorry Mari," she said. She turned her back on Chat to talk to Marinette in kind of privacy. "What are we gonna do about Chloe?"

"If Chat's right then Adrien did this to be kind. That's kinda sweet. We shouldn't do anything," Marinette said.

"There’s nothing we can do," chat said.

Alya disagreed. A sly smile curled across her lips. "I have an idea."

...

Alya's plan had not gone to plan so to speak. When she suggested make overs to prove they could model better than Chloe, she'd meant that Alya would borrow some of Marinette's clothes - probably one of the ones that Marinette had made specifically for Alya - and they would do each other’s hair and makeup, and then spend an hour or so faking a catwalk for adoring fans.  
An aspect Alya hadn't considered was that Chat Noir wouldn't leave when lipsticks appeared.

"That's not her colour," Chat said.

Alya rolled her eyes. She straightened up and turned to face Chat, who was perched on top of a chest of drawers watching keenly.

"Sorry?" She asked, exasperated.

"That shade doesn't suit her. You need to go one shade lighter," Chat said.

"What'd you know about make up?" Alya asked.

"I happen to know people who work in the fashion industry very well!" Chat smirked.

Marinette turned in her chair to grin at him, "Is that why you know so much about Adrien and Chloe?"

"Yep, that makes purrfect sensed," Chat smiled, relief to have a cover story now.

Alya huffed. "Mmm, you might know them, but that doesn’t mean you know what they do. My dad’s a zookeeper, I can barely keep a goldfish alive!"

Chat tilted his head at Marinette so his ears flopped in a way he knew she couldn't resist. "What do you think princess?"

"Princess?" Alya muttered in confused disgust.

Marinette stared down at her shoes awkwardly. "Chat does tend to know what he's talking about Alya..."

Alya glared at her. "Does he?"

"But if it doesn’t work, we can always take it off!" Marinette insisted.

Alya folded her arms and huffed. "Yeah whatever."

Chat unfolded his legs from beneath him and swaggered over. He selected a lighter shade for Marinette to try. She seemed uncertain at first, but when he picked some eyeshadow to go with it, she began to see the attraction. Alya said nothing. She just looked through Marinette's make up box to find the lipstick they'd brought together. That tube was Alya's specific shade and Marinette had brought it for times just like this.   
A burning sensation in Alya's stomach informed her that if Chat so much as mentioned the shade she would find out if a fox could take a cat in a fight.

Marinette grinned. "Here kitty-"

"Kitty?" Alya repeated.

"Put these on!"

Marinette gripped an oversized lime green hoodie from the back of her cupboard, a red sun cap and a pair of black sunglasses. She helped to yank it down over Chat's head, being gentle with his ears as she did (each time her fingers brushed against them Chat felt a rush that he put down to the adrenalin of modelling. It wasn’t) and carefully painted his lips with black lipstick that had been a gift from Juleka for a Halloween costume. Chat put his hands on his hips and raised his chin.

"Do I look clawsome now?" He asked.

"You look like a wannabe break dancer," Alya said flatly.

Chat frowned at her tone for a moment, then grinned. He squatted and folded his arms across himself like a 90s gangster rap artist.

"Dawg," he said, smirking.

Marinette pulled his hood up over his cap and flicked the sun visor. "Don't you mean cat?"

The two of them laughed as Alya rolled her eyes. The hat was hurting Chat's ears though so he had to take it off, which meant that the hood now had two bumps where his ears were. Marinette sniggered at him affectionately.

"Let's get this cat walk going!" Chat declared.

Tikki, sensing a need for music, pressed a button on the computer keyboard, so the room was blasted with music automatically.   
Adrien had been practicing his catwalk poses every day for the autumn fashion show at the end of the holidays. He had it down to an art. Chat Noir however was a very cocky cat, showing off to his best friends. He'd started the way he usually did. With the hip poses at the start of the runway. But the moment he heard Marinette giggling, he remembered who he was, and grinned. Chat threw himself into it. He gave the most dramatic smoulder he could, swayed his hips hard, making his elbow move like a chicken wing as he did, and swaggered down the runway. Once he got to the end he paused and swivelled dramatically to show off the whole outfit.  
Marinette fell to the floor in a fit of laughter, which was already beginning to mess up her eyeliner. Alya folded her arms sulkily and rolled her eyes.

This wasn't fair. Didn't Chat get enough from being the centre of Ladybugs attention? Why did he have to take Marinette too?

...

"I don't know what it was Nino, I just really wanted to punch him! He's a hero and I wanted to punch him! In the face!"

Alya clenched her fists in frustration. She was laying on her stomach across her own bed with a facemask on now, talking to Nino on the phone. She'd left Marinette's almost as soon as Marinette had finished walking down the catwalk. Marinette had tripped and Chat dove to catch her before she hit the ground. Marinette grinned at him in a way that Alya never saw her grin at anyone but Adrien, and she couldn't deal with it. She mumbled an excuse about meeting Nino and ran off. Marinette barely noticed.

Alya sighed heavily. "What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing babe!" Nino replied quickly.

"Nothing?" Alya repeated.

"You've just been away from your best friend for a while and now there's some changes that you need to navigate. Maybe you just need a girls day to remember how important you are to each other," Nino explained.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Do something that is your thing together. Something neither of you would ever think of doing with someone else!"

"You think that'll work?"

"I don't see why not."

Nino shrugged so hard Alya could hear it down the phone. He was in his room too, but he was busy trying to repair the wiring in his microphone so his phone was on loudspeaker.

"Alright. I've got a plan," Alya said after a while.

Nino was about to ask if he could help when a wire broke loose and shocked him. He yelped and lashed away so hard that he fell off of his stool with an almighty crash. Alya sat bolt upright in alarm.

"Nino? Babe? Are you alright?"

Nino laid on his back on the floor, fizzing with electricity, and groaned hard. He was so glad Alya wasn’t here to see that.

...

"I can't believe you got tickets for this!"

"Hey, nothings too good for my best friend!"

It had been a bitch to get tickets for this. The Louvre was having a fashion show to celebrate the up and coming French designers as well as looking to current and past designs. The room they were in had plastic model encircling them, wearing the fashions of the past. A dozen or so men in swanky suits and sleek modern hairstyles were crowding them and gushing over them, while men that looked the same crowded the next room judged the modern and inventive designs suspiciously. Tickets sold like gingerbread at Christmas. Alya had Rose, Juleka, Nino, Nathanael, Alix, Max and Kim all applying on opening day just to ensure they got tickets.

"You know you could just ask Adrien right? He’s definitely going!" Nino warned.

Alya nodded, "uh huh, and?"

"With Gabriel. Don’t make a fool of him!" Nino warned seriously.

"We would never make a fool of Adrien! Honestly Nino, can’t I take my best friend somewhere that she will find interesting? She’s a designer too y’know!" Alya insisted.

"Alya. Please don't make things worse for Adrien," Nino repeated.

"I wouldn't!" Alya urged.

"Good. He doesn’t deserve how his dad treats him so don't upset him," Nino said.

Alya folded her arms sharply, "Nino, I promise you, I will not say a single word to Gabriel."

Alya had planned to say nothing to Gabriel. In fact she'd planned to say nothing to Adrien either. As long as she could urge Marinette to go over and spend time with Adrien, today would be a success. Alya was yet to share this plan with Marinette, but since she kept peeping around on her tip toes like a meerkat it wasn’t hard to tell something was up.

“Girl, what are you doing?” Marinette asked.

“Me? I – I’m not doing anything!”

Alya lied innocently.

“Uh-huh. You wouldn’t happen to be looking for Adrien then?”

Marinette smirked.

“Adrien? never heard of him,”

Alya lied.

“I know he’s here Alya, that’s why you brought tickets right?” Marinette smirked.

“No!” Alya insisted firmly. Marinette raised an eyebrow at Alya pointedly. "Not entirely!"

In her bag Tikki giggled at the sudden juxtaposition between them. They were beginning to look like Rena and Ladybug again. Then Tikki started reminiscing about Trixx. She missed that cunning little fox.

“You wanna be a designer, right? you gotta show off your designs to other designers! Connect, network, flirt with Adrien- WHAT?!”

Marinette had stopped listening. She was staring straight passed Alya going pale with horror, as if she was watching a ghost.

“Adrien’s over there…" Marinette choked softly, "with Chloe…”

“WHAT?!” Alya gasped.

Things were no longer going to plan. Chloe hung off of Adrien's arm showing off to the groupies that she was there as his guest. Of course there were far more groupies outside, so she'd stopped draping herself across him now, but she kept him close by linking her arm through his.

Chloe suddenly squealed and squeezed his arm. "Adrikins look!"

Adrien didn’t have a choice of looking where Chloe was dragging him. When he saw what she was pointing at he couldn't help bursting into laughter. When they were six Adrien first begged Gabriel to let Chloe model with him. To prevent this from ever happening again Gabriel had done everything he could to make Adrien and Chloe match, acting under the theory Adrien wouldn't want to look like a girl.   
The matching lilac outfits- a little dress for Chole and a lilac shirt with a white waistcoat and tie for Adrien - were on display here alongside the magazine spread. In the photos they had been cleaned within an inch of their lives and their hair had been brushed so tightly it shone under the studio lights. Despite that, they were firmly clasping hands and beaming like sunshine.

"Look how adorable we are Adrikins!" Chloe cooed, "I was your queen bee.”

“oh yeah! I was your Knight in shining armour," Adrien grinned.

A sudden wave of memories came flooding back to Adrien. He and Chloe had spent hours playing princess and knights, doctor and patient and variations of dress up games. They'd sword fight with sticks until Adrien started learning to fence and pointed out what she was doing wrong and she threw a fit. Then Chloe just wanted play tea parties and dress up to model. Adrien went along with it because he didn’t have anyone else to play with.  
For a long time Adrien had no one but Chloe, and now Chloe had no one but Adrien.

Chloe leaned her head against his shoulder to hug him. "Thanks for staying with me all these years Adrikins."

Adrien laid his head against hers affectionately, "You're my best friend Chlo. You're practically my sister. Family sticks together."

Chloe scoffed. "Tell mum that."

"Family you're born into isn't your only family. I choose you for my family Chlo. I always will," Adrien promised firmly.

Chloe grinned at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She yanked him forward, strangling him for a moment, until he wriggled enough to make them both comfortable. Both of them laughed brightly

"I love you Adrikins," she beamed.

He laughed and nodded. "Love you too Chlo."

Marinette's chest burned with jealousy as Adrien wrapped his arms around another girl. "Look at them! He loves her! Of course he does, they grew up together, he knows everything about her, she knows everything about him, Chat Noir's right, they're good together, I should just give up!"

"No girl!" Alya grabbed Marinette by the shoulders and pulled her around to look him in the eye. "That cat doesn't know a damn thing about what we've done to get here, he doesn’t know the time we've put into this, because you and Adrien are _perfect_ for each other! Don't listen to Chat Noir, listen to me, your _best_ _friend_ , don't you trust me?!"

"But look at them! They're hugging! He loves her!" Marinette whined childishly.

"Marinette!" Alya laughed, "Marinette you and Adrien are such only children. Siblings hug. We fight like we want to kill but we love each other deep down. Look at them."

"But Alya-"

"Look. At. Them."

Marinette stamped her feet as she turned around to face Adrien and Chloe again. She scowled, her chest aching to see him so close to someone else.

"What do they look like to you?" Alya asked.

"Friends - but girls and guys that are just friends don’t hug like that!" Marinette lied sulkily.

Nino, hearing this, decided to make a point that neither girl would be able to ignore. He leapt out from behind them and wrapped his arms around Marinette's middle, yanking her into a hug.

"Hey Marinette!" He laughed.

His cap brim kept bashing against the back of her head as he did. Alya folded her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg.

"Take back your last comment," she warned playfully.

"But Nino doesn't count-"

Marinette never got to finish her sentence because Nino ran his fingers across her ribs and started tickling, so she squealed instead.

"Alright! I take it back, maybe they are just friends," Marinette giggled.

As Adrien pulled away from the hug something fell out of his pocket. A folded-up piece of paper. Curiously Chloe picked it up to unfold it. It was scribbled over too much to understand.

"Hey Adrikins, what's this?" She asked.

Adrien's heart beat fast. Marinette would never forgive him or Chat for telling Chloe of all people about her crush. But he couldn't lie to Chloe.

"Oh, that’s nothing, it's just a recipe that Marinette gave me," he said quietly.

Chloe snorted, "Ha, that makes sense!"

"What'd you mean?" Adrien asked.

"Can’t you see? She’s so lovesick she put your name in it! Isn’t she pathetic?" Chole sneered.

Adrien frowned, "No that says Neirda!"

"What Neirda?" Chloe asked.

"N-E-I-R-D-A, Neirda," Adrien insisted.

"That's Adrien backwards silly!" Chole laughed.

Adrien's eyes widened as the sun rose in his mind, casting dawning light across all the things that had seemed so difficult to figure out just moments ago. It all seemed so obvious now, but the shock dropped all the tension out of Adrien's. His arms fell, his head dropped, his jaw opened, his eyebrows held still above the saucers he now had for eyes, and all the colour drained from his body and into his cheeks.

"Marinette's crush is on me?" He muttered.

"You didn't know that?" Chloe asked in surprise.

" _You_ _knew_?!" Adrien choked.

"Everyone knows!" Chloe laughed, "Marinette's the best speaker in the class, she's our class president, she gives alright presentations, but the moment you so much as look at her she gets tongue tied! Talk about pathetic."

Adrien was too shocked to come to Marinette's defence. Now that he thought back to their interactions and compared them to Chat Noir, it seekers obvious.

"I told you so," Plagg sniggered.

"Maybe I really do need glasses..." Adrien whispered.

Chloe just linked her arm through his and guided him away while giggling.

Alya pushed Marinette towards them. "Are you going to talk to him or not?"

Nino laid a hand on Marinette's shoulder and pulled her back so she couldn't. "Adrien's here with Chloe. There’s a reason for that. If he wanted us to be here, he'd have invited us."

Alya glared at Nino in betrayal. Marinette watched the two blondes walk away together as thick as thieves. As loathed as she was to admit it, Adrien and Chloe were friends. If they wanted to spend their time together, well she was supposed to be here with _Alya_ anyway.

"He's right Alya," she said.

Alya whined, "But-"

"Plus you know what Chloe's like, if we go barging in there she might get snappy and cause an akuma," Marinette continued.

Alya scowled. "I thought you and Chat said it wasn’t Chloe's fault its Hawkmoths."

"It's not. It’s also not worth the risk," Marinette said firmly.

"But-"

"Hey, you said today was a day for you and me, but you knew fully well Adrien would be here too, and he's Nino. Do you really want to bring Chat Noir into the mix too?"

"No not really," Alya muttered sulkily.

"Right, so, I'm gonna go look at the history of Gabriel magazine to see the baby Adrien pictures, meet me once you're ready," Marinette said.

Alya folded her arms and stamped her foot, pouting as her friend walked away to go and admire photos of the boy should could have been admiring properly. She glared at Nino bitterly.

"What are you doing here?" She spat.

"Same as you, I'm looking out for my best friend," Nino said firmly.

"I told you nothing’s going to happen to Adrien!" Alya huffed.

It was almost as if he didn't trust her.

"Marinette stole his father’s book," Nino said calmly and softly so no one would overhear.

Alya frowned. "What?"

"Adrien told me. He said his father's PA told him Marinette gave back the book that Marinette took which almost got Adrien banned from coming to school with us," Nino explained.

Alya shrugged. "So what? If Adrien knows and still hangs out with us-"

"Dude, _I_ got banned from their house for asking to throw the dude a _birthday_ _party_. Marinette _stole_ from him!" Nino insisted.

"She gave it back!" Alya insisted.

Nino noted that Alya didn't seem surprised to hear that Marinette had stolen something. He wondered just how many laws had been bent or broken in pursuit of her happiness.

"That's not the point! Mr Agreste is a protective dude, if he doesn’t like Marinette, there’s no chance Adrien'll be allowed to date her - hell he might not even be allowed to be friends with her! Do you want to break them up before they even get together?" Nino demanded.

Alya bowed her head. "No but-"

Alya cut herself off. She wasn’t entirely sure where she was heading with that statement but it felt like something she didn’t want to admit.

"But?" Nino repeated.

"But... but I want her to be happy..." Alya muttered.

"Girl you’re crazy," Nino said, "Let them be happy as _friends_ before you start planning the wed- you already planned a wedding, didn't you?"

"June 7th, 2025. You're the best man, buy a bubble-gum blue tie to match Adrien's, that's the something blue," Alya smiled slightly.

Nino shook his head and laughed. "I'm in love with a crazy person."

"You knew that already!" Alya said.

"I did," Nino leaned forward to kiss her forehead affectionately. "I really did."

Alya still pouted. "Go on now, get out of here so I can spend the day with the friend I've been neglecting."

There was a massive crash followed by a blood curdling scream that caught both of their attentions. It didn't take a second to figure out what had happened. Not with all these people running away screaming-

" _AKUMA_!"

...

"Pound it!"

"Good work today Chat, your reflexes are getting faster," Ladybug grinned.

"I've been looking after some kids, they help with the training," Chat admitted.

"I know, I'm a part time babysitter, they keep you on your toes," Ladybug chuckled.

Chat couldn’t imagine what kind of lucky children were babysat by Ladybug and didn’t even know it. The akuma had been heartbroken, like many they'd met before, so they'd taken him down easily and they both had some time before they had to change back.

"Hey, bugaboo, do you have time to _chat_?" Chat asked.

"Um, yeah I guess. Not long though," Ladybug said.

Chat's face fell. "Oh, if there's not enough time it doesn't really matter-"

"Kitty, if something matters to you, make a fuss," Ladybug said.

Chat's chest twitched anxiously. "A friend of mine said that to me once..."

"Chat? Are you ok?" Ladybug asked, concerned.

He couldn’t reply because Ladybug was instantly distracted by Alya and Nino hurrying across the museum calling for her.

"MARINETTE?! MARINETTE WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

"ALYA WAIT UP!"

"MARINETTE?!"

"ADRIEN! ADRIEN WHERE YOU AT?!"

"I gotta go-" Chat said.

Ladybug snapped around and latched onto his tail. "Chat wait!"

He turned back, visibly anxious to go. "Yes my lady?"

"Meet me at the usual spot tonight on patrol," She said, "if it's important, I'll make time for it."

Alya came rushing over, panting a little. Her worry had pushed aside the jealousy she felt towards him.

"Chat Noir! I can't find Marinette!" She cried.

"Marinette is here?!" Chat's heart beat harder.

"I'm sure she's fine, there's no akuma anymore, she’s probably just hiding still," Ladybug insisted.

"Chat if you really think she’s a friend you'll help me find her," Alya urged.

"Of course I will, Marinette is important to me," Chat said.

Ladybug looked over at him, touched. "She is?"

"Yes!" Chat said. Ladybug smiled softly to herself. Chat mistook it for a frown and his heart missed a beat. "N-not as importantly as you obviously my lady!"

"I can’t find Adrien either," Nino said.

Now Ladybug snapped up, alert. "Adrien's missing?!"

"Yeah, Adrien's tough, I'm sure he’s ok," Chat coughed uncomfortably.

Ladybug opened her mouth but the earrings beeped before words came out. "Now you beep?! You gotta find hi- um, them, ok Chat? Make sure Adrien a-and Marinette are ok!"

Chat nodded. "Anything you wish my lady." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it gently.

Ladybug dashed off, grateful that she hadn’t heard Chat's miraculous beep yet.

Once again as Marinette, she was running towards the model figures to hide there when she ran straight into Chat Noir instead.

"Marinette!" He cried in relief.

"Chat Noir!" She yelped in surprise.

She found herself swept up into a great hug, squeezing her so tightly she felt her ribs ache.

"I'm glad you're safe," he whispered.

"Marinette!" Alya yelled.

Chat dropped her so fast she nearly hit the ground. Alya was there to grab her instead.

"Alya," Marinette laughed.

"Girl you gotta stop running off in akuma attacks you scare the hell out of me!" Alya stressed.

Once she let Marinette go she turned to Chat, "Thanks for helping her find me."

"I was helping _you_ princess," Chat said pointedly.

"I'm fine kitty," Marinette said and quickly added, "what about Adrien?"

"Isn’t he with you?" Nino asked urgently.

"I'm sure he's fine-" Chat began.

Marinette pushed him away and declared, "We gotta find him!

"But-"

"Adrien!"

Chat let out a deep sigh as his friends moved away to search for him, with Marinette leading the charge. She wouldn't give up until she'd found him. He should have been frustrated by that, it meant he had to run away fast to find somewhere to hide, but he couldn't bring himself to be annoyed. On the contrary, he was flattered. Marinette was frustrating for sure, but she cared about him. Cared enough to hunt him down after an akuma attack.   
His chest warmed at the sunny relieved smile she gave him the moment she laid eyes on him. Marinette reached out to hug him, panicked, and immediately tripped and fell. Before Adrien could move to help her, he found himself pulled into a strangling hug by Nino.  
Marinette and Adrien were safe.  
And neither of them could show how relieved they really were.

Things were beginning to feel odd.


	7. Chapter 7

Chat sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the metal bars, watching the way that the last few sun rays clawed at the edge of the sky. The yellow bulbs were already shining above and below him, but it was the faint lights in the distance that held his gaze.  
Ladybug was late. Ladybug was usually late. He couldn't blame her, it was tough to find hiding spots to change in, and tougher still to sneak out.   
Or maybe she forgot about their agreement. It'd been a long day, and he wouldn't be shocked if she forgot. Disappointed sure, but it wouldn't be the first time.  
He hated to admit it, but Ladybug had let him down before.  
Somewhere in the city below he knew his father would be looking for him. Adrien had messed up the piano performance and been late to every one of his lessons including fencing, which he had been distracted in and lost every match. Gorilla undoubtedly told Natalie, who undoubtedly told Gabriel that they were "concerned" by this.  
Now Adrien had a meeting booked with Gabriel at twenty to nine, which he had missed because he was too busy running through the city to meet up with Ladybug who was now late.  
So Chat wasn't in the best of moods.

"He’s going to kill me this time. I can feel it coming. He's going to send me to a boarding school so I can't ever see my friends again. At least I'll still see Chloe. There’s no avoiding her. We'll be friends forever me and her," Chat said to Plagg.

"Me and you? Yeah we will!" Ladybug smiled as she landed behind him.

"Ladybug!" Chat yelped in surprise.

He jolted forward in his surprised, nearly slipping off of the tower as she did. Ladybug grabbed his arm to stabilise him. His cheeks flushed pink.

"Thanks," he muttered.

The bad move left him as the relief and embarrassment replaced it. Ladybug took a seat beside him so their legs were pressed together. She tried hard not to think about it, but that fact kept popping into her mind. It never left the front of Chat's head.

"Who are you talking to?" She asked curiously.

"Oh, um, no body, I'm just-"

"Your kwami?"

Chat's mouth twitched as she gave him a knowing smile. He laughed a little. Both of them spent enough time lying about who they were talking to when they were seemingly all alone. It was nice to finally be caught by someone who knew the truth.

"What’s their name?" She asked.

"Plagg," Chat said, unable to hold back a smile.

"Tikki," Ladybug replied.

"That’s a cute name," Chat said.

In her ear, Marinette heard Tikki giggle. Ladybug chuckled affectionately. "She’s a cute bug."

"Like kwami like owner," chat muttered.

Quick as a flash Ladybug replied, "Plagg must be devilishly handsome then."

It took Chat a full minute to be able to speak again. He had to stare at the sunbeams again and try to force his cheeks to stop being scarlet. Ladybug nudged him gently.

"Hey, are you going to tell me what’s up?"

_"What's up is I'm in trouble with my father for constantly sneaking out but I snuck out again before he could tell me off because I had to come here and meet with you."_

The thought entered Chat's head but he would never have actually said it. Especially not to Ladybug.

"Is this about the girl?" Ladybug asked.

"T-the girl?" Chat gulped.

He had no idea what girl Ladybug was talking about and it panicked him that she would even consider the idea that he could love somebody else when she knew he loved her.

"Marinette. You said she was important to you. It's sweet that you hang out with your friends when you're in uniform. I'm not that brave," Ladybug said.

"Really?" Chat blinked in surprise and admitted, "I thought you'd be more annoyed."

"Why?" Ladybug asked.

"I just thought... if any of them figured out who I was behind the mask that would put us both in danger right? You've always been against telling people who we are... I guess I just thought you'd be more concerned."

"Chat Noir you're my partner. I trust you with my life. I trust you to be able to keep yourself abd your friends safe. You did today, Marinette was so glad to see you!" Ladybug said.

Chat tilted his head. "You saw that?"

"I, um, saw it, um, on the, err..." Marinette panicked.

Chat watched the panic grow in her eyes as she searched for a convincing lie, but his eyes sparkled in response as he worked out the truth. Or what he thought was the truth.

"You saw it on the Ladyblog didn’t you?" He grinned.

Instead of denying it, Ladybug bowed her head and ran with it. "Does that sound arrogant?"

"No, its smart. You need to make sure that she doesn't actually work out who you are and keeping tabs on the blog is the smart way to do it. Plus it's an interesting thing to read," Chat said.

"You read it?" Ladybug sounded surprised.

"Yes. I'm friends with Marinette and her friend-"

"Alya runs the blog, yeah, I know Alya."

"Right..."

Chat had forgotten the times he and Ladybug had gone to Alya for help. She was usually their first point of call. It was odd to him now that he thought about it, that when Ladybug was around Alya treated Chat like a cocky hero but respected him. When Ladybug wasn’t around like she hadn't been when it was them and Marinette, Alya seemed colder...

"Chat, why do I feel like you’re pussyfooting around something?" Ladybug asked, pulling him back to the moment.

Chat bowed his head. "Nothing gets past you my lady."

"Wanna tell me what it is?" She asked.

He stared down at the city below as he thought of what to say.

"You know how I feel about you. That hasn't changed. I still... You mean the world to me Ladybug..."

"Chat, I-"

"Please... let me finish..."

He had closed his eyes as he spoke so opened them when Ladybugs hands fell into her lap. She said nothing but waited for him to continue. He continued watching the ant-sized people wander the city as he ripped off the band aid.

"A friend of mine has a crush on me," he said finally.

Ladybug paused uncertainly for a moment but settled on grinning. "That’s great!"

"I-it... it is?" Chat frowned.

"Well yeah, isn’t it? If she makes you happy-"

"I don’t love her like that."

"Oh..." Ladybug's smile vanished. "I see..."

"Don’t get me wrong she means a lot to me, she's one of my closest friends, I do love her, but..." Chat trailed off so Ladybug offered an ending to his sentence.

"More like a sister?"

"Yeah..."

There was a lingering pause as Ladybug debated moving to squeeze his arm sympathetically as he often did to her. She decided against it.

Ladybug too a deep breath. "Listen, I know how it feels to care deeply about someone who you cant love because you love someone else-"

"It sucks," Chat interrupted.

"I know," she sighed.

"I don’t want to have to hurt her. It's selfish not to tell her because she can’t move on if I don’t, but-"

"Don’t tell her," Ladybug said firmly.

Chat raised his head to look at her in confusion. "What? But that’s not-"

"Chat, I'm serious. If I had told I don’t want to be with you before you even told me how you felt, you'd be crushed. If A- if my crush told me he didn’t want to be with me-"

"He'd be an idiot. Anyone willing to break your heart is an idiot. You deserve happiness more than anyone-"

"Chat stop!"

Ladybug's chest was aching to go through this again. On her command, Chat Noir's hands fell into his lap and he stared down at the street without finishing his sentence. It was hurting Ladybug to go through this again, but if she could save some innocent girl this pain, it had to be done.

"Chat, when I told you I couldn't date you because I loved someone else, did you move on?" She asked softly.

"No..." he muttered.

"And how worried were you to tell me?"

"I kept Plagg awake for like three weeks practicing."

"So it would hurt her more if she didn’t get to prepare herself for rejection before it happened. A random rejection out of the blue will destroy her."

Chat groaned hard and ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "I feel even worse now than I did before. I have no idea what to do, I can’t lead her on, but I can’t break her heart!"

Ladybug felt a dozen bee stings straight to her heart as a thought entered her mind.

"Chat?"

"Yeah?"

"I hate to say this, but... this is the same situation you put me in, and I still don’t know what to do... I'm sorry," she said softly.

Chat felt his heart wince. "I'm sorry I put you in this situation, its awful! How do I break her heart knowing she means more to me than I can tell her?"

"You don't. At least you try not to." Ladybug shrugged helplessly.

"What would you do? I mean, if it wasn't _me_ who love you?"

"Well, if it was him-"

"Your crush?" Chat's words were cold, but desperate.

Ladybug nodded solemnly. "My crush."

Chat dropped his head into his hands and huffed. He had needed a reminder that Ladybug did not love him back, but this... this seemed a sickeningly, ironically devastating way to do it.

"If he told me he loved me, honestly I'd be so relieved I'd cry," Ladybug said.

"But if it wasn't?" He asked.

Ladybug took a while to reply. "They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but in my experience, it just makes it forgetful. The easiest way to move on is to literally move. Remove yourself from any potentially romantic situation with them but be kind about it."

Chat stared at her in disgust. " _Ghost_ her? Your advice is to _ghost_ _her_?"

Ladybug threw her arms in the air helplessly, "Chat I'm a teenager with a hopeless crush that I'm too scared to tell I love him! I’m way away from being an expert in love! Ask Plagg, he's a thousand years old, he'll be perfect for helping you!"

Chat scoffed. "Plagg's not interested in romance. Plagg’s not interested in anything but cheese and dumb schemes."

"Plagg sounds like the kind of person I need right now. I love Tikki, she’s my best friend, but she's all about romance and being the best you possible. Sometimes I feel like if I'm not perfect I'll disappoint her... I couldn't disappoint her though. She's too nice to ever be disappointed in me."

It was hard to explain the kind of pressure that put on Marinette. She wanted to be perfect to meet Tikki’s expectations, but whenever she slipped up Tikki was there to guide her back to the right path. It was difficult to disappoint Tikki because she was too supportive. Then again, was it possible for someone to be too supportive?

"That’s the kind of person I need in my life," Chat sighed.

"Its a shame we can't swap kwamis for a while. It could do us some good. Good in battle too, it'd be easier to communicate if we knew each others’ limitations from experience, right?" Ladybug said.

Chat gave a small but amused smirk. "Bugaboo are you asking if you can try on my miraculous?"

"What?! Chat, we can't transform in front of each other to give over the kwamis! Its impossible!" Ladybug pointed out.

"Well that’s a shame. I need a Tikki in my life," Chat said.

"I don't think I need a Plagg. I think I've already got three," Ladybug said.

"Three Plagg’s? It's a wonder you’ve ever got time to be Ladybug!" Chat smirked.

"Well there’s only one Tikki," Ladybug said affectionately. After a small pause she put an arm around Chat to pull him into a small hug. "And there’s only one Chat Noir. Any girl would be lucky to have you. I wish you could find one who would make you happy."

"There’s only one lady I want," Chat whispered.

Ladybug frowned. She pulled her arm away from him and set it in his lap. A rush of disappointment hit him.

"I'm sorry Chat," she whispered.

Chat closed his eyes, pained. "Whoever it is you've got a crush on, I hope you find it in yourself to tell him soon. If he doesn't immediately love you back, I'll track him down and tell him how stupid he is until he realises what a treasure you are."

"You'd do that for me?" She smiled softly.

"As long as you're happy, that's enough for me," Chat promised.

Ladybug stayed there, just smiling at him for a moment. "Good luck with your girl Chat. She's fallen for someone truly miraculous."

"Speaking of my miraculous my lady, if I were to give you a ring, it wouldn’t be this one. It'd be a wedding ring," Chat said.

It wasn't the best line he'd ever come up with but his heart wasn’t really in the right place today. Ladybug let it slide by ignoring it. She stood up and grabbed her yoyo.

"I'd love to stay and count the stars with you, but my best friends been texting me nonstop for days and if I don’t respond within two hours she comes over to check on me," she explained.

"Protective friend," he said.

"She’s the best."

"Lucky bug."

Ladybug moved towards the other side of the tower, but hesitated. She glanced back. Chat was still staring up at the sky. She cleared her throat slightly.

"Um... If your friends ever do find out who you are... If Hawkmoth can find someone he knows you love and use them against you..."

Ladybug wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted to say, but Chat tilted his head so his ears twitched so she knew he was listening. Ladybug sighed. Chat knew what she was going to warn him of, but it needed heeding anyway.

"Just be careful Chat. That’s our responsibility. For their sake..."

With that she was gone.

Chat stayed still in the relative silence of Paris at night. He drank in the fumes of the cars below and the fresh air from the clouds above. It just made him dizzy.

The thought of going home to face his father wasn’t one he was keen on. He knew that hell would have no fury worse than the one he was avoiding

Eventually it could be avoided no more.

The moment Gorilla found him in that alleyway close to home, he was frog marched straight into his father's office.

This wasn’t like Christmas. Adrien didn’t get a hug, he didn't get told he was important to Gabriel, and he didn't get told he was loved. Gabriel barely even looked at him.

"You ran off yet again, abandoning your work and leaving the house unprotected. You have brought shame into the house hold by breaking the promise I made to your mother," he said drily.

Adrien bowed his head. "I'm sorry father."

"Ever since you began attending that school your behaviour has been slipping. Clearly banning that imprudent boy from this house isn't enough. Perhaps I ought to tell that Marinette girl's parents that you’re not to spend anymore time with her since you’re being distracted from your work," Gabriel continued.

Adrien gasped in horror. That was worse than he had been expected. "Father no!"

Ignoring the desperation in his sons voice, Gabriel continued, "Don't talk back Adrien."

Half of him screamed to argue back. That half was Chat Noir. The rest of him, the Adrien half of him, couldn't find his voice. He bowed his head low.

"I'm sorry father."

"Adrien, I promised your mother I would keep you safe at all times. If you want to ensure your mother's promise is kept or not, you must decide where your loyalties lie," Gabriel lifted his head to meet Adrien’s gaze, his eyes cold and stern. "With friends, or family."

Adrien's stomach hit the floor. He gulped hard. "Yes father."

"Go to your room and remain there until you are required. If you leave, don't bother coming back," Gabriel said.

For a man who spent most of his time manipulating bad feelings for his personal gain, Gabriel was awful at recognising them in his son.

"What do I do Plagg?!" Adrien whined. "Nino and Alya and Marinette _are_ my family, but my father is my father. I have to choose between my blood and my family."

"You told Chloe you'd choose her," Plagg pointed out.

"I didn’t know I'd have to choose!" Adrien threw his arms up helplessly.

Plagg, spurred on by Ladybug's words echoing in his mind, decided to sit up and try to be helpful.

"Alright, let's make this easier. Let’s put each category at total extremes."

Adrien frowned in suspicion. Plagg wasn’t usually helpful. "How so?"

"Let’s say, hypothetically, Marinette was L-" Plagg hesitated. Even Adrien wouldn't be blind enough not to put two and two together if he imagined Marinette in Ladybugs outfit. "Marinette was Rena Rouge, and Alya was Ladybug."

Adrien scoffed. He'd seen Ladybug and Alya together at the same time on multiple occasions. Alya was always chasing him and Ladybug as they went through the city.

"Alya is _not_ Ladybug," he said firmly.

Plagg gave him an unimpressed look. "I said hypothetically."

"Alright, so if my normal friends were my miraculous friends, I'd always choose them because Paris needs us as a team," Adrien said.

"Ah but that’s the thing," Plagg said pointedly, "What if your father was Hawkmoth?"

"Now you’re being ridiculous!" Adrien folded his arms and scoffed.

"Ladybug suggested it, how'd you know its not true?!" Plagg said.

"Because it can’t be! I lost my mother, I won’t be forced to be the one who takes my father away too," Adrian whined.

"Kid, say he is, just theoretically, say he’s Hawkmoth. Now it's not you're friends against your family, but you’re team against your enemy. Who do you pick?" Plagg asked.

Adrien's chest hurt but he muttered, "Rena and Ladybug, every time."

"Why?" Plagg asked.

"Because Hawkmoth is evil! I know those girls will always have my back because I trust them with my life," Adrien said firmly.

"Can you trust your friends or your father?" Plagg asked.

There was a long pause as Adrien frowned slowly. He folded his arms and scowled as he realised he did not want to answer that question

"Ladybug was wrong about you, you’re not useful at all! I still have no idea what to do!" he huffed.

Plagg pouted grumpily at Adrien. It wasn't often he tried to help people these days - over the centuries he'd learned that people didn’t really care about the advice you give and will do their own thing regardless - so he wasn't pleased Adrien wasn't appreciating it. Usually he'd give up about now, but the kid had said he needed Tikki.  
Plagg was no Tikki, but he was the closest Adrien had.

Kwamis had the ability to sense each other if they were in trouble, in case they needed help. All of them could feel their butterfly friends discomfort whenever Hawkmoth was active, but it had been a long, long time since Plagg felt Tikki. He tried his best now. After all, he needed her.  
Plagg screwed his eyes shut and wrinkled his nose hard as he tried desperately to channel his thoughts to her.  
It was slow and almost painful. The concentration almost gave him a headache. Then, finally, he felt her response.  
Tikki was a soft pink glow in his mind, calm and warm and soothing. The glow moved from his head to his chest and burned a little brighter.  
It wasn’t exactly clear conversations which annoyed Plagg more than anyone else, which was why he rarely attempted this, but the smooth response from Tikki felt practiced. She was clearly in touch with someone often enough to be in touch with herself.  
Or maybe she just practiced alone.  
There’s not much else to do in a box for centuries. You’ve got to entertain yourself some how.  
Plagg swallowed as Tikki's glow faded. He still wasn’t certain what to say, but he knew he had to be calm as he said it.

"You could always compromise," he suggested.

Adrien frowned at him. "What?"

"If you make your case to your father that you need your friends for your mental health or whatever, he'd _have_ to let you see them... but you'd probably have to agree to only see a couple of them at any given time," Plagg explained.

Adrien scowled at the very idea. His head and his heart were tearing him apart. "Only two? Out of the whole gang?"

Plagg licked his lips uncertainly. This was going to be far blunter than Tikki, but Adrien needed it on the nose sometimes.

"Give up Marinette."

Adrien's face went through various stages of grief rapidly before settling on disdain. "What?!"

"Just as Adrien, you can still see her as Chat Noir! She doesnt love Chat, she loves you, and you want to get away without breaking her heart, right?" Plagg insisted.

Adrien frowned. "That's evil Plagg, I can’t do that..."

Something soft in his voice, something he didn’t want to admit, suggested that he could. He just needed a push.

"Adrien, you can still see Nino and Chloe!" Plagg insisted.

"But Alya and Marinette are important to me!" Adrien insisted back.

"So you can see them as Chat Noir! Just pretend your father won’t let _Adrien_ see them, and you don’t have to break Marinette’s heart, and you can still see all of your friends _and_ make your father happy!” Plagg argued.

"It doesn't feel right," Adrien said firmly.

Plagg rolled his eyes. This calmness was difficult to keep up. "Kid, history is made up of bad choices made for good reasons. Life moves forward through compromise. It might hurt, but it needs to be done. You can’t let your father put you under constant supervision because then he'd definitely find out about me."

"But-"

"Kid, I made my point. I’ve given you your options. Either find new ones or make a choice. I'm going to sleep now, because you're going to pace the floor all night and keep me awake if I don't."

There was fight still left in Adrien but Plagg didn't care. He padded against the pillow and curled up there, facing away from Adrien.  
Without anything else to do, Adrien begrudgingly started pacing. Plagg laid still with his eyes open, listening to the kid walk. It ached in his chest that the boy was hurting, but he had to make this choice alone.  
It was a difficult choice, but far too soon he would have harder choices to make, and they would hurt even more.  
Just as it began to hurt too much to bear, Plagg felt a soft pink glow in his chest again. Warm and calming. He missed having Tikki beside him, but at least he could still feel her.

Being apart didn't have to be fatal.

...

"Plagg?"

Plagg had barely drifted off when the small whisper woke him. Despite how quiet it was, it echoed in his ears. He opened one eye to see Adrien crouching nearby. The light had faded, leaving them both in the darkness, with no idea how late it had gotten.

"Plagg, I know what I have to do... I just don't want to."

"Sleep through it kid. Everything looks clearer when the sun rises."

Adrien just nodded. He settled down beside his kwami and stared straight up at the ceiling. Plagg nestled his head against Adrien's shoulder gently and very softly began to purr.

It wasn't a big thing, but it was comforting to know he cared.


	8. Chapter 8

Heartbroken as Marinette was, it was worse to know that Adrien couldn’t tell her himself. She had to hear it from Nino.  
It wasn't that Adrien hadn't _tried_ to tell her, but it felt cruel writing it in a text, and when it came to phoning he realised he'd never gotten her number. He spent twenty minutes staring at a blank sheet of paper, trying to think of some way of explaining why he couldn't see her without it sounding like he was deliberately not choosing her.  
By the time he turned to Nino for help it was too late. Nino had mentioned something to Alya when Marinette was in the room and now she knew. She knew and she was crying her eyes out. Tikki had quickly figured out that this was what Plagg was so torn up about last night.

"It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," Tikki said softly.

"Is it? Because my heart would still be in one piece if it wasn't for Adrien," Marinette snapped.

Tikki gulped hard and took a step back. She'd known her Ladybugs could be feisty, there was one who, in their early days together, she was scared would use Ladybug for evil, but even she could be tamed. Marinette had just started to calm down around Adrien, and now he was banned from seeing her.  
Tikki couldn't think of any way to help that.  
Fortunately for her, Plagg already had.

Chat Noir took a deep breath and let it go on the balcony. He'd seen her sulk before, but now he could hear the crying from out here. It made his knees turn to jelly to know he'd caused this.

"Hey pretty princess... why so glum?" He asked.

Marinette sighed into her pillow. "Go away Chat."

Chat slipped in through the window to kneel down by her side. "Not until you stop crying."

"I don’t wanna talk about it," she said.

Chat folded his legs underneath him and took another deep breath. "Is it Adrien?"

"I DONT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Marinette snapped sharply.

Chat threw his arms up in surrender. "Alright, alright, we don't have to..."

There was a slightly awkward silence as Chat tried to think of what to say. The silence was punctuated by beeping. Marinette's phone kept beeline to alert her to each of the texts she kept getting.

"Go away Alya!" Marinette huffed, locking her phone as she did.

Chat gulped. He felt slightly more hopeful than he wanted to feel. "Is it Alya?"

"No, she’s been texting me nonstop for days now and it's just- she's my best friend, and I love her, and I know how clingy I can be, but Alya isn’t like that, and it's weird, and she won’t tell me why so I feel so out of the loop, and now I'm not allowed to hang out with Adrien even though I was just starting to accept that I can be the sister he needs me to be and- and - and -"

Marinette's voice caught on her throat, choking her slightly. Chat eased her by running a hand down her back.

"Adrien huh?" He said quietly.

The hope that had been in his stomach had died now. He felt a little sick because of it. Marinette gave a slight nod and wiped her nose on her arm.

"He goes to my school," she said.

"We don’t have to talk about it if you don't want to," Chat said quietly.

"The only person I want to talk to is Gabriel. He's hurting his son way more than he's hurting me. We're a _team_ Chat. Me and Alya and Nino and _Adrien_. Four of us. Best friends forever," Marinette grumbled.

"Except Alya and Nino are more than just best friends," Chat pointed out.

Marinette dropped her hands into her lap. "Well me and Adrien could have become more."

"Did you tell him you like him?" Chat asked.

"He told me he thought I was his sister. I can’t then walk up and say, I don't want to be your sister, I'm in love with you. Adrien didn’t have anyone but Chloe and his father before he came to school, and now-"

"It's just Chloe and father again..."

Marinette gave a glum nod. Chloe still got to see Adrien. Marinette couldn't blame the mayor for that. That was entirely Gabriel.

"How can I show him how supportive I am, how good a sister I can be, how I can be better than a sister, how I'm-"

"You’re getting off track," Chat pointed out.

Marinette ignored him. "How can I get him to love me if we can’t even be friends?"

Chat hung his head guiltily. He felt so bad for Marinette, for causing her to feel so hurt, especially now he realised it wasn't necessary. It didn't seem fair.

Like father like son...

"Can I tell you something?" He asked quietly.

"Now?" She asked.

"Ladybug doesn’t love me," Chat said softly.

Marinette tried her best to seem sympathetic, but she couldn't muster up any surprise. "Oh?"

Chat nodded slowly. He continued, all the while looking down at his hands. "Ladybug is my best friend. She's more than that, she's my partner. I trust her with my life. I love her. I've done some... well not great things... people have gotten hurt because I wanted her to see me..."

Now Marinette could sound surprised. "Who?"

"Well remember that akuma that pretended to be me and stole the Mona Lisa?" Chat asked.

It was a while back so she had to think about it but after a short pause she nodded. "Yeah?"

"He only got akumatized because I lied to him."

"What?!"

Chat flinched at the accusation in her tone. He was certain he'd hear something similar from Ladybug when she finally found out, but he couldn’t bring himself to admit it to her.

"I was jealous. He was in love with Ladybug, and the idea of her even considering some other guy was just so..."

"Painful?"

Chat closed his eyes and bowed his head. Marinette filled with sympathy now. She knew that pain. She'd caused it too. Her jealousy over seeing Adrien with another girl had caused Ladybug to yell at Lila and cause her to get akumatized. Lila had swarm revenge too, but that was a long time ago and they'd seen no hide nor hair of her since.

"It was stupid. I let it get to me. I told him Ladybug and I were together, and he got akumatized because he was jealous, and Ladybug said she knew which of us was the real Chat Noir because she knew she could always believe me but-"

"The only reason you were in that situation was because you were jealous..."

Marinette thought back to the sheer terror in her heart at the sight of Adrien dangling from the top of the Eiffel tower. Sure it wasn't actually him, but it was a risk she wasn't willing to take in a situation she'd caused herself.

Jealousy could get out of hand.

"I don't sound so heroic when you know the truth huh?" Chat gave a slight chuckle but it died almost instantly.

"Heroes are just people in masks. People are always people, no matter how high the pedestal is," Marinette replied.

Chat nodded along slowly. He took a deep breath and laid a hand on her shoulder. "My point is, I understand how you feel. The pain of loving someone that doesn’t love you back hurts-"

"But you and Ladybug are still friends. You still see each other, you’re still partners! I can't even see Adrien anymore!" Marinette argued.

"You'll see him when school starts," Chat offered lamely.

"But that’s weeks away!" Marinette argued louder, "So much could change in that time! It’s been three weeks since school ended and somehow you and I have become friends and Alya has become clingy! Things _change_ Chat, and they change so fast it’s scary..."

Chat watched as she sank back in on herself, wrapping her arms around her stomach, and sinking into her duvet. He reached out to gently tuck her hair out of her face.

"D’you know what's not scary?" He asked.

She raised her head to look at him. "What?"

"Ice cream. Wanna go get some?" He asked.

"I should tell my parents we're going out. Then again, you were supposed to come over for dinner before all this happened-"

"Oh yeah that was tonight! Wow! Should we, um, should we still do that?"

Marinette shook her head, chuckling despite the concern etched over his face.

"No. They both saw me crying, I'm sure they'll cook dinner and leave it by my bedroom door like they usually do. If you just don't turn up, I doubt they'll be surprised," she explained.

"Then we don't even need to tell them you're leaving. We'll go down the balcony," he offered.

"But I can't-"

"I'll carry you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow as he climbed back up the way he had come in, through the skylight onto the balcony. Marinette peered out after him like a meerkat.

"Carry me?" She repeated.

Chat nodded. He leapt up gracefully onto the railings, used his baton to balance perfectly there, and held out a hand to her.

"Do you trust me?"

There was something deeply familiar about the hope in those green eyes. Something hidden behind them reminded her of something she couldn't quite put her finger on... But this was Chat Noir. He'd saved her life multiple times. He never let her down. She trusted him completely.

So she took his hand.

Chat grinned. His hand moved from clasping hers to the small of her back. He swept her clean off her feet and into a hold she was becoming familiar with recently. Usually she was holding others in her arms like this, as Ladybug, but there was something comforting about being held by Chat. He knew how to support her back and legs so she was comfortable, and she naturally linked her arms around his neck.

"Are you ready princess? Hold on tight," he purred.

As the wind swept past her she curled into his chest for safety, closing her eyes to protect herself from dust. At least that’s what she told herself. His chest was warm against the contrast of the wind. Warm and safe. As she curled against him, his arm wrapped a little tighter around her, to keep her close. His heart beat steady and consistently. It was a comforting beat. There was no panic in him. Chat had control. Despite being hundreds of feet above the city streets, being supported by one arm of a boy dressed as a cat, Marinette had never felt safer.

It wasn't until they landed on the street that Marinette noticed her phone was still pinging with texts. One or two were from Rose who was concerned Marinette would be akumatized and was checking in to see if she was ok, and one was from Mylene about fixing the hole in the seam of her father’s jacket, but the rest were from Alya. They came in varying degrees of urgency raging from "want me to come over and hug you till we fall asleep" to "want me to hold Gabriel hostage and force him to let Adrien have his own life?" The one Marinette finally replied to was:

 

Girl seriously r u ok?

I'm ok

Want me to come over?

with ice cream?

Girls night?

Mylene's free

Nah Chat & I r going out

Out?

Out where?

Rat hunting?

He's taking me out for ice cream

BIRCH I JUST OFFERD UOU ICE CREAM

We gotta find Andre, text you later

But girls night!

 

Chat tilted his head as Marinette turned her phone off and slipped it safely into her pocket. "Everything ok?"

Marinette blinked at him for a moment, before settling for a shrug and a soft smile. "as good as they could be."

After a slight pause, Chat smiled back. He took her hand, ignored the way his heart started beating faster, and tugged gently.

"Come on, I think he’s this way!"

...

As the sky filled with as many stars as possible to see through all of this light pollution, Marinette and Chat sat slumped against one another and a pile of cushions they had dumped on an empty rooftop not far from the balcony. It was one that held a bitter sweet memory for each of them. Although Chat had gotten hurt here, their friendship had found a way to blossom through it. Now they were sulkily digging at their ice creams with plastic spoons, both a little uneasy, and both a little upset.

Despite the mood it was a beautiful night. A clear summer night had been left behind after a glorious sunset, and the warmth of the day was still radiating around them, even as a cool breeze tinted the air. They could see more stars than usual, despite the lights, and the great silver moon hung low above them. All of Paris below was lit with the twinkling lights that gave the city its name, but up here, the only light that could reach them was the moons. Both were drenched in its silvery spotlight.   
Hiding up here, alone but together, they could share in their loneliness.

“Hey, Marinette, can I ask you a question?” Chat asked softly.

Up here, the omnipresent sound of cars was fainter and the planes had stopped passing, so all they could hear was the breeze and each other. There was no need for loud voices here. Marinette rolled her head across the cushion propped up against the rails behind them, and it landed practically on his shoulder. He was staring down at his ice cream, even as it melted into a raspberry red and chocolate chip mess.

“Anytime,” she replied, calmly, “what’s on your mind kitty?”

She heard his gulp loud against the quiet. He continued to dig at his ice cream until he uncovered the blueberry garnish that had slipped away to the bottom of the glass.

“what did… what did Adrien do to make you fall for him?”

“Oh. Um…”

There was a lingering pause as Marinette shifted in her seat. She sat up properly and looked down at her ice cream like Chat had, as Chat now turned to look towards her. Adrien was desperate to know, but there was already a ball of fire aching in his chest at the idea of using her to get to Ladybug. it didn’t seem fair, but he was desperate.

“I guess… I guess it was because of how kind he was,” Marinette said eventually.

Chat tilted his head a little. “Kind?”

“Yeah. You know what Chloe’s like, don’t you?” Marinette asked.

“Chloe again?” Chat sighed.

“No – well, yeah, but not like that…” Marinette sighed as she tried to figure out how to explain herself. Chat waited patiently for her to do so. Finally, she continued, “Chloe is the class bully. She always has been. When Adrien turned up and everyone was saying what great friends they were, I kinda jumped the gun. I upset Chloe and she was taking her revenge on me, but Adrien got in the way, and I thought he was doing it, and I was such a jerk to him about it, and I just… It wasn’t fair, but he didn’t ever grass on Chloe. Nino did eventually, but he didn’t need to… Adrien was too kind to throw Chloe under the bus, even on his first day.”

“you fell for his loyalty?” he asked uncertainly.

“Kind of, I guess, but… but it was after that. it was raining and I forgot my umbrella _again_ , and I was still being a jerk to him, but he still gave me his umbrella, and he apologised, and he didn’t need to and – and he turns me into a blundering idiot – well its not his fault, I have a tendency to be clumsy anyway, but it’s worse around him because I want him to be able to see all of me, and I cant stop messing it all up and – oh, I’m an idiot,” she laughed softly.

Adrien’s chest burned harder to hear her insult herself. he hated hearing people he loved put themselves down, especially someone as wonderful as her. when he tried to reach out and touch her wrist to tell her that, like he had a dozen times before, it suddenly felt… weird… he clenched his spoon harder instead.

“You’re not an idiot Marinette.”

“No I am. I’m class president, I can speak in front of large crowds no problem but stand me in front of Adrien Agreste and I turn into a puddle of goop and I can’t even string one coherent sentence together!” Marinette laughed at all the times she’d messed up simple sentences because of those doughy eyes watching her and sighed dreamily. “But you should see how he waits for me to finish embarrassing myself before he starts talking. So patient, and so kind, and so perfectly wonderful… even if his father can’t see it.”

“So it’s not just because of his good looks?” Chat asked.

“If looks and charming one liners were all I looked for in a guy, I’d be dating you,” Marinette teased.

Chat let out a low snicker, and then slowly, a frown set in. “Wait… wait, that’s all you think I have? One liners?”

Marinette’s eyes widened as he stared at her accusingly. “N-no, Kitty, I didn’t mean-”

“I’m more than that Marinette, you should know better than anyone!” he argued.

Her heart beat harder. “Sorry Chat, I didn’t mean to upset you-”

“if that’s all you think of me, no wonder Ladybug doesn’t love me! I’ve spent about as much time with her as I have with you and if you can’t see me for who I am, there’s no way she can!”

Chat started a panicked rambling that made Marinette’s heart race as she was uncertain and a little anxious about what to do. he was her friend, and she cared about him, and seeing him working himself up like that worried her. she dropped her ice cream and knelt up to grab him by both shoulders and force him to look her in the eyes.

“Chat Noir I can see past that! you’re loyal and you’re kind, and you’re so smart! You can see things in people that they can’t see themselves, and you’re there for me when I need you, even if I say I don’t, and you’re so very, very funny! I know it doesn’t sound important that you’re funny, but you can make me laugh even when I feel like crying, so yeah, it’s important! You’re important! Ladybug would be nothing without you and believe me she knows it!”

Chat stared at her for a moment. His eyes were wide and his ears were low. Marinette’s heart beat hard in her chest as he did. Both of them stared, silently, desperate for the other to stop hurting. Suddenly Chat lurched forward in such a desperate pounce that he knocked Marinette backward. She fell from her knees onto her thighs, with Chat wrapped around her torso. Her eyes widened in surprise as he squeezed.

Quietly, so no one else would hear, Chat whispered to her. it didn’t matter how quietly he whispered, because up here there was no one else to here, and no other noise to drown him out.

“I needed that.”

Marinette’s heart went out to him. she sank into his hug, wrapping her own arms around his head, and resting her cheek on his head. She closed her eyes and rocked him gently, as her mother had done to her a thousand times before. She whispered back to him, in the same low tone, which won soft vibrating purrs to calm them both.

“Any time kitty.”

...

Alya's alert for Chat Noir went off far more often than her alert for Ladybug. Chat was never exactly subtle about his patrols around the city. A broken plant pot here, a damaged gutter there, all magically replaced as soon as possible. Some might say miraculously. Even so, tonight was insane.  
Chat Noir walked hand in hand through the streets of Paris, at dusk, with a random citizen, where they got Andre's ice cream. _Andre_ who was known for sensing romance.   
The gossip columns were going crazy, none more so than the chat rooms on the Ladyblog.   
Alya found herself scrolling through photo after photo after photo of Marinette sheepishly hiding behind Chat as Chat brought ice cream and posed for pictures and held her hand and wrapped his arm around her, and lifted her like a damsel as they leapt away from the crowds-

Alya threw her phone onto her bed with a cry of frustration.

All this time chasing Adrien wasted and it was _Chat_ _Noir_ stealing the lime light for smoothing it over.

Alya was livid.


End file.
